Molly
by aussiebabe290
Summary: A series of Beca/Jesse oneshots, featuring the aca-boy, aca-girl and the aca-life Jesse had deemed inevitable, that very first hood night. The good, the bad and the ugly, Jesse and Beca had been through it all, because they were Beca and Jesse and they could do anything.
1. Perfection

**My first Pitch Perfect fanfic, a series of oneshots featuring Beca and Jesse and everything else along the way, in no particular order. Read and review, please!**

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Molly Claire Swanson was the epitome of perfection, the perfect mix of her mother and her father. In looks, people assumed she was a mini Beca, but her parents knew they had a mixture. Beca's hair, Jesse's eyes. Beca's adoration for music, Jesse's passion for movies ("She's going to be movicated from day one, Bec. I almost got you too late, there's no way I'm going to go through that again" "You weirdo"). The sarcasm of her mother (which, at two, Jesse didn't even think was possible) and the fun loving nature of her father. Named after the movie that had essentially tore her parents apart before bringing them back together, _The Breakfast Club_ had a lot to answer for, in her mother's eyes.

And the proof that the Bellas oath had been broken (something Aubrey had never failed not to point out- even at their wedding. It took Chloe, Fat Amy, Stacey and Benji to calm the bride after Aubrey cheerfully made that announcement). Proof that drunken, eighteen year old Jesse Swanson, who had predicted aca-children on hood night of their freshman year, had been right. And proof that no matter the rivalry between the two aca pella groups, they could gather together to be awesome aca-aunts and aca-uncles for little Molly.

Yes, Molly Claire was perfect. Something Beca Swanson, nee Mitchell, had never imagined her life to be. She was the DJ with an earspike, and Jesse was the nerd at the radio station. But eight years later- the longest and the shortest years all at the same time- her life was perfect. She married the nerd of her dreams (after serenading him at the aca pella finals, something she didn't think would ever happen in this lifetime, or any other for that matter), and they had a little girl they called their own.

She loed everything about him. She loved how gentle he was with Molly, how his eyes sparkled whenever he saw her, and how his goofy grin could still make her feel like she was eighteen again. He was her rock, the one constant in her life. he had never given up on her.

Not even on that ridiculous movication, which haunted her to that day ("BEC-A! how is it possible that you have not seen _The Shawshank Redemption_?" "I don't know, Jess". "I mean, seriously? I thought not seeing _The Breakfast Club_ was bad!" "Do you want to watch the freaking movie or not? And stop hogging all the popcorn!").

She was just an aca pella girl, and he was just and aca pella boy. And they had their aca pella child.

Because it was inevitable.


	2. Inevitable

Beca frowned at the object in her hand, silently cursing herself for giving into him that night. And cursing him, well… for being so damn irresistible.

But mainly her husband.

Because of course he was right. Of course he had predicted their future.

"You're one of those aca pella girls, I'm one of those aca pella, and we're gonna have aca-children", she mimicked, remembering the first hood night. The night they had joined the Bellas and the Treblemakers respectively, where Jesse had drunkenly sauntered over to her, before declaring that they were the kings of the campus.

"Bec!" Jesse called through the house. "Where are you, I thought we were going to watch a movie together? Have you barricaded yourself in the bathroom? Because that's not going to get you out of your movication! You know, you're lucky I caught you when I did- I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if I hadn't…" his voice trailed off, as he knocked on the bathroom door. "Bec? Beca, are you okay? You aren't sick, are you?"

"No", she said, sticking the pregnancy test (with the washed tip, because ew) into the pocket of her huge hoodie (one of Jesse's maroon Treblemaker hoodies from college, the one she had snaffled after the finals and kept as her own ever since). Opening the door, she came face to face with her husband.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he said, noticing the change in her demeanour immediately. She had been acting funny all day, and he could almost see the walls going up before his eyes. "Oh no no no, Bec, you aren't blocking me out. Not this time, not anymore. You don't do that anymore. We're a team, we're married, remember? What happened? What's got you so upset?"

"I'm not upset", she admitted to him, as he steered her towards their bedroom.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Jesse… your damn predictions, that's what!" she produced the pregnancy test from her pocket, shoving it at him and pouting dramatically. "All because of what you said at hood night, we're having a baby".

It took almost a full minute for Jesse to register what was happening, staring blankly from his wife to the object in his hand. But when it did, he almost threw her off the bed in enthusiasm.

"You're one of those aca pella girls", he said, smashing his lips against her mouth, "I'm one of those aca pella boys and we're having aca-children. It was inevitable, wasn't it, Bec?" he laughed, pulling her into his arms and holding her tight. "Oh my God, Beca! I'm gonna be a daddy!"

Seeing the way his eyes sparkled- in a way Beca had never seen them sparkle before- washed away all the worries that she had ever had. Jesse Swanson was the king of the kids (proven to her when he had taken her to his cousin Mikaela's wedding- he had been stolen away by his young cousins and kids their family friends had, and she was left making awkward conversation for the rest of the night because she couldn't find him), and would be the best father in the world.

Pressing her lips against his just as passionately, she let her worries slip away and melt into the arms of the boy she had fallen in love with in the dim, dark radio station at Barden University.

Falling onto the bed in his arms, Jesse pulled the hoodie all the way up to see her bare stomach. It was flat, as flat as it had always been, but he knew it wouldn't be long until there was a bump. His baby. Caressing the pale skin gently (because, as hard as she tried, the girl couldn't get a tan to save her life- "you're basically see through, Becs. Did you know that?" "Shut up Jesse"), he pressed a kiss to her tummy, making her giggle.

"Jesse", she laughed, pushing him away slightly. "Don't, that tickles".

"You know what we should call the baby if it's a girl?" Jesse said cheerfully, pulling the jumper back down and looking at her in the eyes.

"Jesse…" she said warningly (she could almost hear the words come out of his mouth. 'Actual proof a Barden Bella was penetrated by a Treblemaker'- he had all but passed out laughing when she had come clean about the oath that had kept them apart for their freshman year of college).

"No, no! Dixie Chick serious", he promised (some of the things Aubrey had said during Bellas rehearsal made up their everyday conversations, just to mock the blonde). "Molly".

"Molly?" she smiled a little. "I like that".

"You want to know why?"

"Here we go".

"Because Molly Ringwald played one of the leads in our movie, which essentially brought us together. We'd honouring Molly Ringwald, the classic actress, the lead of our movie, by naming our child after her".

"And if it's a boy?" she taunted, storing 'Molly' away in the back of her mind for later (because he might be her nerd, but even nerds could have good ideas).

"Bender".

She smacked his chest, unable to hold in her giggles. Because The Breakfast Club was indeed their movie- for more reasons than one- and now she too could mouth the words along with her husband. And of course, there was the famous John Bender fist pump at the end.

"You're going to be a mummy", Jesse murmured, moving closer to her to kiss her. "And I'm gonna be a daddy. And we're going to have the coolest aca baby ever".

It was inevitable.


	3. Cookies

Aside from popcorn, movies and his two girls, Jesse Swanson loved chocolate chip cookies. Like, as much as he had loved stacking CDs with Beca at the Barden radio station. So when Molly approached him, questioning whether or not they had any cookies ("cookie, Daddy?" she said in her not even two year old voice, and Jesse had to use every ounce of his strength to stop himself melting into the couch), he leapt into action.

Many, many times he had helped his mother cook his favourite treat, propped up on a stool with flour dusting his nose, and she told him that knowing how to cook the biscuits would no doubt help him later in life.

Scooping Molly up under one arm (making her squeal with giggles), he swooped her into the kitchen, plopping her onto the bench (despite Beca's insistence not to do so). "Let's make some cookies, hey?" he said brightly, pulling out the tubs of flour and sugar and the bag of chocolate chips. Molly's eyes lit up at the thought, grinning brightly at her daddy.

Together, the two worked hard, Jesse measuring out the ingredients and Molly dumping them unceremoniously into the big mixing bowl. Together, they stirred together the ingredients, tasting them occasionally (the extra chocolate chips, Jesse knew, was what made the dough taste the best). And once it was all mixed, Jesse whipped out the baking trays and plopped little balls of dough onto the baking paper, sliding it into the oven (making sure Molly was well on the other side of the room).

As the house filled with the scent of baking cookies, Beca wandered out of her studio, a grin on her face.

"What's that smell?" she wanted to know, and Molly threw her arms around her mother, her words garbled in excitement.

"Mummy! Daddy an' Molly cookies! CHOC'LIT!"

"Daddy and Molly made chocolate chip cookies!" Jesse reiterated, just in case Beca couldn't understand the little girl (knowing full well she could).

Standing on her tiptoes, she pecked a kiss to her husband's cheek, taking Molly's hand and allowing herself to be hauled into the kitchen. Pointing to the oven, Molly turned to her mother seriously.

"Mummy, hot", she said cautiously.

Jesse, manned with oven mitts, opened the oven and pulled out the two trays of biscuits, balancing them carefully before dumping them on the bench. Reaching for it excitedly, Beca removed Molly's hand from reaching distance, sitting up at the breakfast bar with the little girl on her lap.

"it's hot, baby", Beca murmured, brushing back Molly's reckless curls with her fingers (while Beca had grown her hair slightly longer after having Molly, her curls taming themselves with the added length, Molly's shoulder length hair was ringlets, the exact shade of her mother's).

When Jesse had deemed the cookies cool enough not to burn their fingers and yet warm enough to melt in their mouths, he lifted Molly into his arms, heading towards the fridge to get out the bottle of milk.

"You can't have cookies without milk", he said to Molly, making Beca roll her eyes.

(While he was the best father in the world and the only one Beca would want to raise a child with, he had been educating Molly in his own way since the day she was born. Molly's movication had started the day they brought her home from the hospital, as the new family of three settled in front of ET, Jesse covering the newborn's closed eyes when he felt it was too scary for her. "Jesse, she's two days old". "Beca, we have to start early, I can't let what happened to you happen to her! I almost got you too late, that's not going to happen to Molly".)

Jesse poured three glasses of milk, before taking a seat beside Beca at the breakfast bar; Molly balanced safely in his lap. Breaking a cookie in half, he passed the larger half to her before taking a bite of his own. Molly mirrored is actions, before taking a large sip of milk, copying her father in every way.

It was scenes like that that Beca lived for. She used to think that music was her life, and it was, until she met Jesse. And then Molly was born, and everything changed. Music had become work, and while she still loved it, she didn't live for it.

Because it was cookies and milk on a rainy day, with Jesse and Molly beside her, that really mattered.


	4. Paint

**Please review! I'm loving your feedback- any prompts are welcome, too :) **

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"Why couldn't we have found out if this baby is going to be a boy or a girl?" Jesse grumbled, as he scoured the walls of paint samples. "It would make this so much simpler".

It had been Jesse's idea to keep the gender of their baby a secret. It hadn't taken much convincing for Beca, who had agreed immediately, but at that moment Jesse was the one regretting it.

"Why did you agree?" he turned to her, almost glaring at the pregnant woman. "You've never agreed with me before, why did you agree with me on this?"

Beca bit back a chuckle- despite the hormones rushing around her body; she was surprisingly calm- patting him on the shoulder. "It was your idea- and I agreed to marry you, didn't I?"

He nodded a pout on his face. "Why'd you agree with me on that, though?"

"Marrying you?" Beca's eyes sparkled, and Jesse frowned.

"Can't we see if this baby is a boy or a girl?"

"Nope. Your idea, we're keeping it a surprise".

After spending two and a half hours in the hardware store and many, many arguments ("yellow is a stupid colour, Jesse". "But Beca!"), the pair settled on pale mint green. It was perfectly neutral and the colour that the pair had been searching for, for unnamed baby Swanson.

Knowing they had rollers and brushes tucked away in their attic (from their previous painting experiences), the two loaded the paint into the back of their car, singing along to the radio the whole way home.

While Beca rushed off to the bathroom, Jesse headed up to the attic to retrieve the paintbrushes and rollers, bringing them down into the room they had declared their baby's.

"This baby's gonna love this room", Jesse declared, as Beca plugged in the iPod dock right outside the room. The soundtrack to _The Breakfast Club_ (their movie) started, as she dipped her paintbrush into the mint green.

"They're going to love this", she echoed, feeling the flutter of their unborn child moving inside her.

"Molly?" Jesse said hopefully. "Or Brian".

"We aren't calling our baby Brian, Jesse".

"If our daughter can be named after Molly Ringwald, I don't see why our son can't be named after Anthony Michael Hall".

She tried to bite back a smile, failing and making Jesse beam (making Beca laugh- or even smile- was the only thing that he had been trying to achieve since that very first day in the radio station). "Molly, I can agree with, but Brian? No".

Jesse was quiet for a moment, as he rolled the white undercoat onto the walls. But a tap on his shoulder a few minutes later made him spin around, Beca tapping him on the nose with her paintbrush.

"Beca!" he wailed in protest, as white undercoat covered his nose. Working in quick retaliation, he stroked the roller over the back of her legs. She just laughed, as she ducked away with as much agility as she could muster, six months pregnant. As Jesse tried to get her with the roller, she waved the paintbrush threateningly at her.

Beca knew that in just over three months' time, it would not be Beca and Jesse again. Their lives would be consumed with a little baby boy or a little baby girl (almost certainly called Molly- Jesse had almost one hundred percent convinced her), leaving little time to call the two of them. But at that time, they were Beca and Jesse, just the two of them.

Covered in paint and with not even one whole wall painted in undercoat, Jesse wrapped his arms around Beca, crashing his lips against hers.

"The walls can wait, can't they?" Beca whispered against his, and he nodded.

"Molly or Brian won't be here for three more months, they can wait", he agreed, pulling her closer towards him.

"Not Brian, Jess". Kissing him deeper, she rolled her eyes. He was her weirdo.


	5. Confession

**Today marks the 98th anniversary of the Anzac soldiers landing at Gallipoli, where they died fighting for our freedom today. Lest we forget.**

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"I'm not going". Beca crossed her arms over her chest, her feet planted firmly on the ground.

Jesse was that close to picking her up and tossing her in the car that moment, because Beca was stubborn that day. Beca was stubborn most of her life, but she was particularly stubborn that day. Why?

Because she was pregnant. And a pregnant Beca was easily nine hundred times more stubborn than every day Beca. And he had made the mistake of not running their dinner plans by her first.

Because he knew that if he had, there was no way she would agree. Or even get in the car.

Thinking it over, there wasn't really a situation in which he would win, but the surprise dinner date was, in his eyes, the winner.

Apparently not, in hers.

"I'm not going".

"Get in the car, Beca". Jesse pointed, like he was instructing a small puppy.

"No".

"Get in the car, Beca".

"No".

"Get in the freaking car".

"No".

He glared, and she glared back. He didn't know how long they would stand there (actually, he did, and that was why he was a little worried), but all he wanted was to get her in the car and get them rolling to the restaurant.

"Get in the car, Beca".

"No".

"Beca!" he whined, refraining from stomping his foot like a five year old. "They're waiting for us and I got them all to be there and they're waiting for us- they're waiting for you!"

Mumbling under her breath (Jesse was ninety eight percent sure she was hissing death threats his way), she stomped out to the car; slamming the door with such force she almost snapped it off. Trotting after her, Jesse slid into the driver's seat, leaning over to peck her cheek.

Reversing out of the driveway in silence, he reached towards the radio to turn it on. Deciding against the regular radio, he changed it to the car stereo, where he knew their movie's soundtrack was sitting.

(She was fighting back a smile, he could see it.)

"_Don't you… forget about me_", he hummed, tapping his hands on the steering wheel, hoping that Beca would join in, like she did most times they were in the car.

"I'm not telling them".

(And then she did that.)

"What?" Jesse stopped singing, glancing towards her.

"I'm not telling them we're going to have a kid", she said calmly.

Jesse gripped the steering wheel a little tighter, willing himself not to smack his head against it.

"What, am I supposed to do it?"

"Yes".

"Why?"

"Because I told the stepmonster and my dad and my mum. And then you made me tell your family. You can tell Chloe and the rest of the freak show".

Jesse didn't even know how he was supposed to weasel himself out of that one.

"Aubrey could melt me with her eyes".

"Please, if she was going to do that she would have done that the day of our wedding", Beca scoffed, holding back a chuckle at the memory. "Or, more importantly, hood night. Or, my personal favourite, the day of finals in our freshman year".

"You initiated that kiss- and you were the one who dedicated your whole mix to me!" his eyes flashed in remembrance, and Beca bit her lip. "And you said you weren't one for romantic gestures… she didn't even see that one coming!"

Beca didn't want to laugh, but she ended up letting a giggle escape her lips. Aubrey's face, as she all but jumped Jesse in the fifth row, had been one of the funniest things she'd seen at Bardon. And the blonde would never let her forget it either ("It was almost 'Upchuck: The Sequel'", Fat Amy had said brightly that night, as they sat around with pizza- Beca perched in Jesse's lap- ignoring Aubrey's glares).

"I don't care, Jesse. I'm not telling them the oath was broken-" Jesse's smirk made her glare, and he quickly sobered up, "And therefore I'm pregnant".

"Why?"

"One word, Jesse". Beca's eyes twinkled in a way Jesse had never seen before, the way that terrified the living daylights out of him. "Hormones. I can turn on the tears at any moment".

He frowned. "Well, shit".

"Who thought this one through?" Beca sang, a grin on her face, and Jesse frowned.

* * *

"Sorry we're late!" Jesse sang, as he all but dragged Beca into the restaurant. "There was a bit of traffic-"

"You're late to your own dinner, man", Donald chuckled.

Pulling out a chair for Beca, she slid into it before Jesse joined the table. "Alright, what are having? How are we all?"

"Hey Beca!" Chloe said warmly, hugging the brunette across the table.

Beca was warm and friendly to their friends, before turning the glare onto Jesse.

"Tell them", she hissed under her breath, taking a sip of water.

"So, let's be straight, short stack", Amy said, leaning towards Beca and patting her cheek gently. "Why did you drag my sexy fat arse here?"

Jesse almost swallowed her tongue.

"What, we aren't allowed to meet up for dinner?" he said lamely. "As a group?"

"Your own wife didn't even know", Stacie said unhelpfully.

"Thank you, Stacie".

"Spit it out", Beca said through her teeth, baring a smile.

"So, what's the deal?" Benji wanted to know. "What's up?"

"Nothing's up".

"You're lying", Aubrey said, the first words of the night.

"Spit it out, Treble", Fat Amy grinned.

"Amy", Beca said warningly.

"What?"

Jesse mumbled the truth at a volume that would have made Lily roll her eyes.

"Speak up, we've got that freak quirk covered", Fat Amy said cheerfully, glancing around. "where is Lily?"

(Probably doing something destructive and illegal, but apparently Jesse's opinion was unnecessary.)

Jesse decided to take the bull by the horns, spitting it out. "Beca's pregnant!"

Benji, Donald and Stacie whooped excitedly, Chloe jumped up from her chair to hug the tiny brunette, Fat Amy making an inappropriate comment that everyone pretended they didn't hear, while Aubrey sat there, opening and closing her mouth in a similar fashion to a fish.

"Chloe!" Beca mumbled into Chloe's ample chest. "You're SUFFOCATING me!"

Jesse hauled his wife out of Chloe's death grip and the woman gasped for air, Chloe apologising appropriately.

"Aubrey?" Jesse said tentatively, fearing for his life.

(Just because the oath had been abolished didn't mean Jesse was any less afraid of the blonde. Especially after the stories Beca had told him over the years.)

"You know what this baby is, right?" Fat Amy said brightly to Aubrey, and the latter blonde tore her eyes away from the couple for a moment.

"What?"

"Its actual proof that a Bella got penetrated by a Treblemaker".

"Amy!" Chloe cried.

Aubrey rose to her feet and Beca grabbed Jesse's hand, unsure what the blonde was going to do.

"Aubrey", Chloe said warningly.

"If it's a girl, you could call it Bella!" Stacie's eyes sparkled, and Jesse turned to Beca.

"No".


	6. Babysitting

As Beca stretched her arm to zip the back of her dress, she had tugged it halfway up her back before giving up. "Jesse!" she called, moving into the hallway to find Jesse lying on their daughter's floor, the aforementioned tiny girl sitting on his chest.

"What are you doing?" she tried to fight the grin on her face, as Molly waved brightly.

"Hi baby", she said warmly. "Jess, can you zip me up?"

Jesse rolled Molly off, making her squeal with laughter, standing up to tug the zipper up the rest of the way up Beca's back. "Ready to go?" he said brightly.

"Almost- are you?" she said suspiciously.

"Yep!" he nodded. "I've just got to get dressed".

She bit back a chuckle, as Molly made a grab for him again. "Miss Molly's getting in the way, isn't she", she deadpanned. "Come on Molly; let's help Mummy get ready for Daddy's big award night".

"Aunt Aubrey will be here soon", Jesse told the fifteen month old, passing her over to Beca. "Okay, you go and get ready and I'll be done soon".

Beca held Molly to her hip, carrying her towards their bedroom so Jesse could begin to get ready. "Come on Molly", she said, bouncing her a little on her hip and making her squeal.

Molly jumped and played on the bed, while Beca finished getting ready. She pinned her hair up in a knot, a pair of earrings Jesse had given her for Christmas being the defining feature (instead of having the earrings in her ear, she pinned them into her hair, letting them hang and the effect making both her and Molly smile), before working on her signature smoky eyed makeup (since leaving Bardon and becoming a mother, her eyeliner use had reduced slightly, but when they went out, her makeup was out in full force).

"What do you think, Molls?" she wanted to know, turning to face her daughter. "Do you think Daddy will like it?"

"He'll always like it", Jesse said with a grin, coming out of the bathroom wearing his suit. "You look gorgeous, Becs".

"Thanks weirdo". She grinned (knowing that he had said those same words to her when she was bent over the toilet heaving with morning sickness, and knowing all the while he meant it), and Molly leapt towards him.

"Daddy!" she said brightly.

"Hey baby girl!" he held her tight, spinning her around. "Were you helping Mummy?"

"Yep". Molly nodded seriously, as she slid down back onto the bed.

The doorbell rang out through the bottom level of the house, and Beca held her arms out. "Aunt Aubrey's here, Molly", she said brightly (trying to sound cheerful for the sake of her one year old). "Let's go and get her, hey?"

"Yeah". Molly took her hand, and Beca walked down the hallway with Molly's hand clutched tight in her own, taking the stairs slow enough for the little girl (the independent tiny brunette was determined, but had taken many tumbles down the stairs, and now took them a lot slower than she originally had). Once they reached the bottom, Molly dropped her mother's hand, running towards the door.

"Hi Aubrey", Beca said, opening the door with Molly at her side. "How are you?"

Aubrey scooped Molly into her arms, holding her tight. "Hey baby girl!" she cooed (for someone who had been so completely, totally and unadulteratedly against a Bella and a Treblemaker being in a relationship, she adored the little girl). "Hey ear spike".

Beca frowned at the nickname she resented. "Good to see you too", she growled. "Jesse!"

"Coming!" Jesse called from the top of the stairs.

"Her dinner is in a bowl in the fridge, it needs to be heated up", Beca said to Aubrey, reaching out and stroking Molly's unruly curls. "Her pyjamas are on her change table in her room, there's two mad up bottles in the fridge. The can of formula is on the bench, and her bear is on her chair in the lounge. Please don't let her go to bed any later than seven thirty; she didn't sleep too well this afternoon. I think she's got teeth coming through".

"Ready to go, Bec?" Jesse checked from the bottom of the stairs.

"Ready". She smiled at him, taking in the sight. He was her nerd, they had been together for nine years, but he still made her heart flutter like she was an eighteen year old again.

"Say bye to Mummy?" Jesse said to Molly, stroking her cheek gently and kissing her nose. "Love you Molly!"

"Bye bye!" Molly waved enthusiastically from Aubrey's arms, blowing kisses to her parents. "Bye bye bye bye bye! Bye Mummy! Bye Daddy!"

Aubrey laughed, as Molly bounced in her arms.

"if there's any issue, call me straight away", Beca said to the blonde, repeating her words from all those years earlier, when Aubrey had handed over reign of her Bellas to Beca (and while Beca had never called her, Aubrey made contact with her at least once a day to check up on her).

"We'll be fine, won't we Molly?" Aubrey said to Molly, and Molly nodded.

Once the front door closed, Aubrey set Molly down and the little girl hauled her off towards the lounge room, where she proceeded to show her all of her toys, her daddy's incredibly large DVD collection (lining a whole wall), her mummy's big stereo (that she, under no means, was to touch) and her colouring table. The two sprawled out on the floor, what seemed like eight boxes of crayons between them, colouring in seriously.

"You're my favourite niece", Aubrey said out of the blue, and Molly grinned toothily at her, holding up her drawing for Aubrey to see. "How you're Beca's kid, I'll never know".

"Mummy?" Molly said in interest.

"Yeah, Mummy". Aubrey stretched over and kissed the little girl's cheek, and Molly giggled, rolling over to give her a cuddle.

"Mwa!" she smacked a sloppy kiss to her aunt's cheek, making Aubrey melt a little inside.

* * *

"No".

Molly Claire Swanson was exactly like her mother. Aubrey had made up her mind by the time dinner was over.

"Molly", she said calmly and sweetly (bringing back memories of Bellas practices where Beca would dig her heels into the ground, arguing with everything and anything that came out of her mouth). "Come on, sweetie, it's time for a bath".

"No".

Aubrey tried not to frown, as she attempted to pluck the sauce covered one year old out of her high chair (while she had managed to get most of her pasta into the child's mouth, Molly was quick and had grabbed the spoon several times). "Come on, Molly, we'll have a bath and then put on some pyjamas and then we can play!" she said brightly, hoping to entice little girl into allowing herself to be plopped into soapy water.

Molly was her sweet niece. But right then the little girl was being not so sweet.

"Come on", Aubrey decided, scooping her up as Molly let out a holler.

"No no no no no no no!"

(it was around this time at Jesse's awards night that Beca remembered that she had forgotten to mention to Aubrey that Molly had decided a week ago that baths were the worst thing in the world and would scream like she was being tortured the whole time she was in the bathtub. Not even her strangely large collection of rubber ducks could placate her. But shrugging cheerfully, she let the blonde find out for herself.)

"What's up with you tonight?" Aubrey asked genuinely, as she wrestled the shirt off Molly's body. "You love baths!"

"No", Molly told her firmly, crossing her arms in defiance.

"God you're like your mother", Aubrey muttered, as she lifted Molly into the bathtub, swiping the whole shelf of rubber ducks to join her in the water.

(Where the kid had accumulated so many rubber ducks from, Aubrey would never know.)

The whole four and a half minutes Aubrey had Molly in the bath (she timed it, making it as quick as humanly possible), she screamed. She screamed blue murder, thrashing about in her aunt's hands, the fear of getting a concussion prominent in Aubrey's mind.

Scooping Molly up in a towel, she dried her off in record time before taping her into a new nappy and snapping her into clean pyjamas.

Every other time Aubrey had babysat the little girl, she had cuddled up to her after her bath. But that night, she didn't want anything to do with her. She sat in her chair on the other side of the lounge room; her bear clutched to her chest, the saddest expression Aubrey had ever seen on a child that small.

(She considered texting Beca, but she knew that if she did, Beca would never let her live it down. And she knew that if she didn't, Beca would accuse her of traumatising her baby and never let her see the child again, or something equally as serious. She considered texting Jesse, but she knew that Beca found out everything. Benji, Donald, and Stacie all crossed her mind- even Fat Amy, who Molly had a strange affection for- but she knew who she had to call.)

Aubrey Posen prided herself for being a strong, independent woman. She could take care of herself and a group of amateur aca pella singers, leading them to the finals at Lincoln Centre with only minor setbacks.

But apparently, a fifteen month old (who, the last time Aubrey had babysat her on her own, was the sweetest angel) had broken her.

Fighting back the urge to vomit (because it was a habit she had apparently not grown out of), she picked up the phone and dialled a number that everyone knew.

"Hello?" Chloe's sweet voice filled her ear and Aubrey let out a sigh of relief.

"Chloe, I'm at Beca's… can you come over?"

"I'll be there right away", Chloe said, hearing the desperation in her best friend's voice (Aubrey Posen was not one to ask for help. They had learned that the hard way, in the form of a vomit fest and the following hour of confessions that the Bellas probably didn't ever need to hear).

"Aunt Chloe's on her way", Aubrey said to Molly, and Molly backed away from her again, a wary look in her eyes. "Hopefully Aunt Chloe can have better luck then Aunt Aubrey".

* * *

"Chloe!" Aubrey almost threw herself at the redhead as Chloe let herself in (the roles were reversed that night, Chloe almost chuckled). "Thank you!"

"You sounded desperate, I was on my way home", Chloe explained, hugging Aubrey tight. "Where's Molly?"

As if hearing her name, the little girl appeared in the doorway. The look on her face was the saddest Chloe had ever seen on someone so little.

"Molly!"

The little girl broke down into tears, holding her arms out for her aunt. Chloe scooped her up, rocking her gently as Molly continued to wail.

"What did you do to her?" Chloe almost laughed, as she murmured words of comfort into the little girl's ear.

"Nothing! I did everything Beca and Jesse do!" she said defensively. "We coloured, we played, we watched eight minutes of a DVD because her attention span is worse than Fat Amy's, and then ate dinner! Then I ran a bath-"

"Molly hates baths", Chloe said knowingly, cradling Molly with one arm and taking Aubrey with her free hand. "She decided she didn't like them last week- I don't know, all I got from Beca was that she was watching a movie with Jesse and something scared her or something- but yeah, she doesn't like baths".

"She loved baths!" Aubrey protested (knowing how hard it had been to remove her from the water).

"Not any more, now she thinks she's going to be sucked down the plughole or something". Chloe shrugged, taking a seat on the lounge and rocking Molly. "Beca was furious with him, something about a movication and her being too young- I don't know, I didn't get the full story".

Molly nuzzled into Chloe's shoulder, whimpering slightly.

"Oh baby girl", Chloe murmured. "It's okay. Mummy and Daddy will be back soon".

Molly pulled herself away from Chloe for a moment, glancing at Aubrey. Deciding against what she had stood by for the last hour, she held her arms out silently for the blonde and Aubrey willingly picked her up. Molly rested her head on Aubrey's chest, fiddling with the end of her perfect ponytail (how she managed to keep her hair perfect while wrestling with a one year old, Chloe would never know).

It didn't take long for Molly to settle down completely, and with the girl cradled in one arm, Aubrey stood up to fix a bottle for her. Molly looked at her with her big eyes, her bear dangling from one arm.

"Bee", she said quietly, accepting the bottle, and Aubrey was so shocked she almost dropped her.

"Chloe!" she squeaked. "Chloe!"

"What?" Chloe called in amusement.

"Molly just said my name!" she squealed, and Molly's eyes widened. "Molly just said my name! Ha! Fat Amy owes me twenty!"

Chloe snickered, and Aubrey brought the little girl into the lounge room to see her redheaded aunt.

"Who's that, sweetie?" Chloe wanted to know, motioning towards Aubrey.

"Bee", Molly said a little louder, and Aubrey felt her heart melt a little, any annoyance she held towards the little girl sliding away like it had never happened.

"She said my name first!" she almost whooped.

And that was all she had to report to Beca and Jesse, when the returned home that night. neither asked why Chloe was there (although she knew they'd find out) and neither asked about bath time (although Beca did apologise for not telling her- an actual apology from Beca Swanson, she filed it away for later purposes- and Jesse apologised to everyone for showing her that movie- "how was I supposed to know she'd react like that?" "She's one, Jesse".).

"But she said my name first!" Aubrey said in delight again, and Chloe laughed, dragging her out the front door.

"Congrats again Jesse!" Aubrey added as an afterthought.

Once the front door closed behind the pair, Beca turned to Jesse, a slightly evil glint in her eyes.

"What kind of hell do you think she put Aubrey through tonight?" she asked with a grin.

"So much that she had to call in Chloe for backup. She's definitely your kid; she knows how to push Aubrey's buttons".

And they laughed all the way up the stairs, checking on their little girl before moving into their own room.


	7. Introductions

Jesse couldn't believe it. Although it had seemed like an eternity (and even longer for Beca), their daughter was in their arms. In his arms, more specifically.

Molly Claire Swanson was in the world.

After a six hours of labour (Beca had insisted she was strong enough to deal with it without any form of pain relief, and she was- all but breaking both Jesse and Chloe's hands in the process), they were able to hold their daughter.

"She's so beautiful, Beca", Chloe said with an ear to ear smile, itching to reach out and snatch up the baby.

Beca was laughing and crying at the same time, as she saw her husband- the only boy for her- cradling their daughter. The baby that they had created. "Of course, please", she sobbed, trying to keep her hormones at bay (it hadn't worked for the past nine months- but she had just pushed a baby out of her nether regions, she was allowed to cry).

When Beca had gone into labour, she had called Chloe from the car (while Jesse made multiple illegal moves in the panic to get his wife to the hospital before she delivered their child in the backseat). Chloe had met them there, sending a quick text to Aubrey to let everyone know and meet them in the hospital.

So that's where everyone was. Stacie, Fat Amy, Benji, Donald, Lily and Aubrey were waiting impatiently in the waiting room (making their way into the hallway until they heard Beca's strangled scream of pain- Benji's scream echoed hers and Jesse would have laughed if his wife wasn't crushing his hand), all eagerly awaiting the arrival of their aca-niece or aca-nephew (Beca and Jesse had stuck to their words and not learned the gender of the child they were expecting).

"She's perfect, Beca", Chloe said gently, brushing the brunette's sweaty locks out of her face and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "She's absolutely perfect, and I'm so in love".

Jesse offered her the little pink bundle and Chloe eagerly took her in her arms, rearranging the newborn so she rested comfortably. "Hey little one", she whispered. "I'm your Aunt Chloe- I'm going to spoil you and love you even more than your mummy and daddy".

"That's not possible". Beca shook her head, absolutely exhausted. "No one can love that little girl more than me".

Chloe giggled, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Molly's forehead. "You were born into a special family, little girl", she told her. "You're going to be so loved and so spoiled- Fat Amy's just waiting to meet you".

Both Beca and Jesse burst into laughter- the Australian had cared for and nurtured Beca even more than Jesse had during her pregnancy, making others think that it was her child that she was carrying in her womb.

"Can you go and get them, Chloe?" Jesse asked, as Chloe handed over the baby to her mother. Beca cradled her daughter in her arms like it was something she'd been doing her whole life (she was absolutely scared shitless, but it felt natural. She hoped to God the feeling lasted), nodding eagerly.

"Please?"

Chloe had only been out of the room for a millisecond when Fat Amy waltzed through, a grin on her face, Stacie at her heels.

"Where is she?" Fat Amy wanted to know. "What's her name?"

Despite how tired she was, Beca grinned harder than ever.

"Molly Claire", Jesse spoke for her, taking the baby from his wife's arms. "Everyone, meet Molly Claire Swanson".

"Awww!" Fat Amy peered into the little bundle, taking her from her father's arms before Jesse could even register what was going on. Beca sat up a little straighter in her hospital bed, because she had known Fat Amy for a long time, and the girl had a pitch on her to rival football players (and Jesse never failed to remind her, much to her disgust, that she had gotten arrested on behalf of the blonde). "Hi! I'm your Aunt Amy- the coolest Australian around". She grinned, and Jesse beamed.

She was Molly's self-proclaimed 'fun aunt' (they had gone out for dinner two months earlier, with Beca's belly protruding, and Amy had gone around the table and told everyone what kind of aunt and Uncle she knew they'd be. While it had been amusing for some- solely Beca and Jesse, thinking about it- the others had been unsure what to think).

Molly Claire Swanson was passed from arm to arm, as her Aunt Aubrey held her, before passing her on to Aunt Stacie. Jesse crept a little closer when his new daughter was in her Aunt Lily's arms (because despite how much they loved her, Lily had psychotic tendencies and he wasn't too sure if he'd ever allow her to babysit his baby girl on her own), before she was handed to Benji.

"Molly- after Molly Ringwald?" he wanted to know, and Beca blushed a little, nodding.

"Whoever thought ear spike would name her kid after an actress?" Aubrey chuckled slightly.

"Wait, Claire? You named her after an actress and a character?" Donald wanted to know, as he took the infant into his own arms.

(Beca frowned, because it was official. She'd never live it down.)

"See, Aubrey?" Chloe said brightly, once Molly was resting in her arms once again (Beca knew that if she took her eyes of the redhead for just a minute she wouldn't be beyond smuggling her daughter out of the hospital under her jacket). "I told you she was a softie? You didn't believe me. I told you at the activities fair that she was just a big softie and it was going to take someone equally soft to alert everyone".

"Shut up Chloe". Beca didn't even try to hide her smile (something she did only for Jesse, who tried harder and harder every day to crack a smile out of her, knowing she bit it back just to taunt him).

Chloe laughed, as she placed the baby back into Beca's arms, Beca astounded by the absolute beauty of the baby she and Jesse had created. Her downy soft hair was chestnut brown, the same shade of her own, and her eyes were bright blue (Jesse had almost cried when he first saw them, but she wanted them to be the same as her father's).

"How's everything going in here?" a nurse Beca hadn't seen before poked her head into the room, smiling at the sight.

"Would you be able to take our photo?" Stacie pulled a camera out from her ample chest, handing it to her.

"Shift over", Jesse said to Beca (earning a glare from her, because she had just pushed his child out of her vagina and he wanted to take her place in the bed? There were so many things wrong with it Beca didn't even know where to start), as he wriggled further onto the cramped hospital bed. Chloe wedged herself in beside Beca, pulling Aubrey close, while Benji crammed in beside Jesse, Donald leaning so he was standing above Benji. Lily, Stacie and Amy positioned themselves around the bed, all focusing on the little bundle in Beca's arms.

Beca didn't know how they became a family. But they did, and she was so, so glad. Because it meant that her Molly- her daughter (it still felt surreal)- would grow up with aca-aunts and aca-uncles that adored her and would protect her until the end.

"Welcome to the world, Molly Claire", Beca whispered, running a finger over her soft baby cheek. As her eyes closed, she let out a little sigh of contentment, making Jesse grin.

"She's beautiful", Chloe said for the umpteenth time, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead.


	8. Kick

"Holy shit", Beca whispered to herself, as her hand flew to her stomach. "Holy shit- JESSE!" her hand flew over, slapping the boy sprawled out beside her. "Jesse, holy shit, wake up!"

Jesse shifted in his sleep, rolling away from her abusive hand. "What do you want?" he mumbled.

"Wake the hell up, Swanson!"

The panic in his voice sent his eyelids flying open like roller doors, as he blinked around. "What's wrong? Is it the baby? Is the baby okay? Are you okay?" he sat up in a panic, reaching for his phone to call the ambulance, the hospital and Chloe respectively. "I'll get the bag, Bec, you get in the car-"

She grabbed his hand, tossing his phone aside, pressing his hand against her protruding abdomen. "Feel! The baby's kicking!"

Beca had felt the baby fluttering around inside her for a few weeks now, but she had never felt a kick. Never had she felt her baby kick, and it was the most wonderful- and albeit, weirdest- thing she had ever experienced. She felt Jesse relax beside her, as he took in the miracle that was her stomach.

"Oh my God!" he gasped, tears welling up in his eyes. "The baby's kicking!"

Tugging up her shirt, he ran his fingers over the pale skin of her exposed stomach, feeling the bump that was their unborn child.

"Oh my God", he repeated, grinning up at Beca with shining eyes. "They kicked! Our baby kicked!"

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak without bursting into tears (because those damn hormones made her cry at everything).

Jesse pressed his lips against hers, holding her tight, one hand resting on her stomach, feeling every kick from their baby. The two lay in silence for a moment, soaking up the precious time, before Jesse spoke.

"What does it feel like?" he asked, genuinely curious (his questions had to be very carefully timed, or else she would potentially rip his head off. Or start bawling, and he didn't know which was the better of the two evils- pregnant Beca was a hormonal mess, not that he'd ever say that to her). "I mean, does it hurt?"

Beca shook her head. "It doesn't hurt, it just feels… weird". She took his hand in hers, her fingers dancing lightly across his flat palm. "I guess it feels like that… only on the inside".

Jesse stared at her fingers in wonder, before turning his eyes back to her stomach. "Wow", he uttered. He shifted so that he was lying further down on the bed, caressing her stomach gently. "Hey there little baby", he said quietly. "I'm your daddy. I can't wait to meet you… you're going to look just like your mama and be funny just like me and you're going to love movies and love music-"

A sob ripped through Beca, as she moved to hold him. Jesse, slightly bewildered, held her back, kissing the top of her head gently and brushing away her curls.

"What's wrong, Bec?"

"You're so damn sweet", she cried. "You're going to be the best daddy to this baby…."

The two lay there in silence, feeling their baby's first kicks, knowing that their time as a couple was limited, because they were to be parents. But as Beca dozed off in Jesse's arms, she knew she wouldn't want it any other way.


	9. ET

"Welcome home, Molly Claire", Jesse whispered, as he carried the car seat inside. Beca trailed after him with her bag slung over her shoulder, smiling.

In the two days since Molly's birth, their whole dynamic had changed. They weren't Jesse and Beca anymore. They weren't even Jesse and pregnant Beca. They were Jesse, Beca and Molly- the Swanson family. They were parents, they had a child- they were a family.

"Welcome home baby girl", Beca said gently, as she lifted the infant from the car seat. "Welcome home".

With Molly in Beca's arms, the pair walked around the bottom storey of the house, showing her everything that she would get to know throughout her years. Jesse's shelves of movies, Beca's shelves of music. The well-worn couch that had followed them from their shabby LA apartment to their house, not willing to throw it away because it had become 'part of the family'. As they moved upstairs, Jesse took the little girl, showing her the studio where Beca produced her music and Jesse worked on his, their bedroom ("that's where you're going to go on a Saturday morning and we're going to cuddle up together because we love you more than anything, Molly Claire"- Beca had needed to go and get tissues at that statement), and finally, her bedroom.

The day Molly was born; Chloe had gone out and bought pink wooden letters, arranging them on the wall, spelling out her name. The photograph the nurse had taken that afternoon had also made its way into a frame, sitting on the top of Molly's chest of drawers.

"Welcome home", Jesse said to her, kissing her forehead gently, wrapping an arm around Beca.

* * *

When Beca came downstairs after having a shower, she expected to see Jesse talking to their newborn baby girl. But what she didn't expect to see (although she should have, knowing Jesse the way she did) was Jesse putting a DVD into the player, Molly in his arms.

"ET: Extra Terrestrial", he said to her cheerfully. "Steven Spielberg, a classic film. You're going to be movicated early; you aren't going to turn out like your mother. I almost got her too late; I'm not going to let that happen to you".

"Aca-scuse me?" Beca said from the doorway, coming in to greet her husband and daughter.

"You heard me", Jesse said without even batting an eyelid. "I'd hate to see what you'd be like if I hadn't got you when I did…" he shuddered, as if the thought frightened him. "Molly's not going to turn out like that. Molly's gonna love movies".

Trying to hold back her giggles, Beca took a seat on the lounge, looking lovingly at the way that Jesse held their daughter. Her eyes were closed and she was in a peaceful sleep, snug in one of her many brand new outfits from Aunt Amy (Beca didn't know who was worse, Chloe or Fat Amy, when it came to her daughter. At one point she was sure Chloe was going to walk out with the little girl in her arms).

"How come Molly can sleep through her movication?" Beca challenged.

"Haven't you ever heard the phrase 'never wake a sleeping baby'?" Jesse chuckled.

"That's lion, Jesse. Never wake a sleeping lion".

"Yeah, it's basically the same".

She reached over to kiss his cheek, grinning. "I love you".

"I love you more", he replied, focusing his eyes on their ample television screen. "Shhh, you're missing the beginning".

Together, the new family of three sat through the whole movie (Jesse keeping a commentary for their new daughter, covering her closed eyes whenever he thought it was too scary for her, even when she was nuzzled up to her mother's breast. "Hey Bec, does it hurt?" "No. it feels funny, but it doesn't hurt", she had said, an amused smile on her face. His curiousity had driven her insane, and yet she had loved it all at the same time). Right then, at that moment- despite the fact that both Beca and Molly were sleeping through one of his favourite movies- there was nowhere he'd rather be. At home, with his girls.


	10. Scarf

Molly Claire Swanson, with the absence of siblings in her eight month old life (something Beca was opposed to, but Jesse was all for, seeming to have forgotten what she had told him as Molly emerged into the world. "Touch me again and I'll drown you, you bastard".), had been slightly spoiled, as the first aca-baby within their group of friends. Chloe and Fat Amy and Stacie had drowned the newborn in stuffed toys, while Aubrey opted for the more educational games and books. Benji bought a selection of magic tricks (that Beca had swiftly confiscated, because had been in the boys' dorm room many times and had seen what Benji had gotten up to), while Lily had bought toys that Jesse had deemed inappropriate and hidden them away in the deep dark corners of their attic.

In the words of her father, Molly was spoiled beyond belief. And in the words of her mother, that had never stopped Jesse cooing over toys when they were out, trying to convince her that Molly needed whatever it was he had set his eyes on.

(Sometimes, Beca felt like she was raising two children.)

But out of all the toys and gadgets little Molly had in her life, her item of comfort was Beca's old yellow and blue Bellas scarf (much to Beca's dismay and Aubrey's delight). Jesse had pulled it out one day when Beca was at work, and Molly had latched onto it, Jesse finding great delight in the fact that his daughter, at five months of age, was a mini Bella.

Beca, on the other hand, did not.

It was the well-worn, slightly faded scarf that she clung to when she wanted comfort, ignoring the multitude of dolls and bears and animals that surrounded her. The scarf had been chewed, slobbered and vomited on (Beca had to pry the vomit soaked scarf from her little hands as her daughter howled, unwilling to let it go- it was probably one of the single most grossest things Beca had witnessed in her life) and carted from location to location, gripped in her daughter's chubby fist.

"she's our mini Bella", Stacie cooed, as the eight month old lay her head on her mother's chest, her eyes heavy with sleep but unwilling to give in. "why didn't you name her Bella?"

"Um… errrr… um…" Beca hummed, sounding remarkably like Fat Amy trying to get out of answering one of Aubrey's many questions.

"Because Beca went soft", Benji mumbled, and Beca shot him a glare.

"What?"

"Come on", Jesse scoffed. "Beca's been a softie this whole time".

Beca frowned, because the conversation was taking a turn that she did not like.

"One day, when Molly's a finalist at Lincoln Centre for the ICCAs we'll all be there to watch her", Aubrey said brightly (choosing to ignore both Jesse and Benji). "And then she'll wear her Bellas scarf properly". She folded her man hands (Fat Amy's words) in her lap, making the decision final.

And as Molly succumbed to sleep in her mother's arms, surrounded by her family, they knew that one day, she'd have a Bellas scarf tied around her properly, and not just scrunched in her fist.


	11. Bedrest

Beca loved sleep, more than life itself. Sleep was up in the category with Jesse and her music, and the unborn baby that played football with her bladder at all hours of the night. Hence the reason she wasn't getting a whole lot of sleep. And after a particularly long night with no sleep and a dizzy spell in their kitchen, Jesse had banished her to their bedroom, calling work for her.

So she was stuck in bed, all day, assigned to bed by her husband who thought he knew what was best for her. If he had allowed her to stay home by herself, she would have been able to get something done. She would have been able to work on her mixes; she would have been able to sleep.

But instead, Jesse organised a babysitting roster, like she was a sick three year old, where their friends would come to make sure she didn't go completely insane.

"You're ridiculous", Beca grumbled from the bed, one hand on her swollen stomach.

"You almost passed out, Bec!" his eyes were wild. "I don't want to lose you!"

"I was tired, the kid you just had to have is playing football with my bladder and you have no comprehension on how uncomfortable that is". She frowned, crossing her arms grumpily over her swollen chest. "And my boobs hurt".

"So you've said repeatedly", Jesse said under his breath, trying not to get frustrated. "Bec, we're seeing a doctor tomorrow-"

"Exactly. You. Are. Not. A. Doctor". She growled.

"Chloe and Aubrey and Stacie and Fat Amy are coming today", he said, trying to see the positives.

"What?" she roared. "Yesterday you stick me with Donald and Benji and Lily, who I swear to God didn't blink the whole time they were here- and today I get the whole Bellas? Chloe, I can handle, God, even Fat Amy is okay, but a whole day with the four of them? And AUBREY?" tears laced her voice and she swallowed hard, trying to contain her emotions.

(Jesse would never say it to her face, but pregnant Beca was a hormonal mess. He thought dealing with Beca on her period was bad, but he had endured six months his hormone fuelled wife.)

"You're the worst person in the world", she added as an afterthought. "First of all you do this to me-" she motioned to her stomach, "and then you tell me the Bellas are coming to babysit!"

"I never used the word babysit-"

"I don't care!"

The doorbell rang through the house, and Jesse glanced at the clock. "That's probably Chloe- can you please behave?" he sounded like he was trying to parent a small child. "Please? I'll bring back extra ice cream".

"Chocolate chunk and nothing else or I swear, Swanson-"

"I love you!" he pecked a kiss to her forehead, waving from the doorway.

Chloe appeared in the doorway moments later, peering in at Beca. "Hey sweetie!" the redhead said brightly, plopping down beside her and immediately reaching out to touch her belly.

(Something Beca would ordinarily snap about, but Chloe had introduced herself while stark naked in a shower. The girl had no personal boundaries.)

"Hi, Chloe", Beca mumbled, sounding defeated.

"Aw, Becs, what's wrong?"

"Jesse- bed rest- I don't need a babysitter, Chloe".

"I know, sweetie- Jesse's just worried about you", she tried to explain (having found herself on the phone with the boy several times, trying to reassure him that Beca was okay, and that she was not going to kill him, no matter how many times she screamed she would). "He wants this baby to be born healthy, and if you have to stay in bed, that's what has to happen. It's for your own good".

"I know". She crossed her arms grumpily.

"Fat Amy and Chloe and Stacie are coming!" she said, trying to brighten the girl's mood. "And Stacie's bringing popcorn, and Amy's bringing ice cream-"

"Stacie better not be bringing movies, I am so not sitting through porn".

"I didn't plan on bringing any movies, considering how much you hate them". Chloe grinned, and Beca glowered at her. "I figured anything we brought Jesse would have downstairs; if we got desperate we could watch something from downstairs".

A few minutes later, Fat Amy, Aubrey and Stacie appeared, bearing a small mountain of food between them (including the people shaped donuts that had become tradition when they gathered for a girls' night, Fat Amy initiating it the night after their first finals win at Lincoln Centre. The sugar covered treats had gotten Beca to admit that she had liked Jesse probably more than she had let show, and Chloe had squealed on a sugar high at the tiny, red faced girl). Stacie plopped down beside Chloe, Aubrey crawling onto the other side of the bed, before Fat Amy pushed them both out of the way to examine the pregnant brunette.

(The way Fat Amy carried on, Beca had chuckled on many occasions, one would think that it was her baby that Beca was carrying in her womb.)

The five girls spent the day lounging around the house, Beca's mixes playing in the background, the soundtrack to their conversations. They ate all the ice cream Stacie had provided, and chewed their way through a significant amount of food Fat Amy had bought (Aubrey intervening and going downstairs to heat up the leftover pesto pasta for the pregnant brunette, because Jesse would kill them if he found out she hadn't eaten anything nutritional).

Everything was discussed- the ICCA finals they had won together, and the finals Chloe and Aubrey had watched them win. Their lives after Barden, and how they didn't think they'd be where they were. Beca's baby, and whether it would be a boy or a girl (Beca and Jesse had decided not to find out, and let it be a surprise). The names of the baby (Aubrey had her heart set on Bella, while Fat Amy though it would be appropriate to name the baby after their fun aunt Amy. Beca had shot them both down, because she wasn't about to tell them, but she had Jesse had almost certainly picked out names for both a boy and a girl).

"It wasn't as bad as you thought it would be, was it Bec?" Chloe said comfortingly, as the brunette's eyes drooped (because sleep was her favourite thing).

"No", she mumbled. "But he's gonna ask, and you're going to tell him you had the worst day ever".

"Because you're a hormonal mess?" Fat Amy said sympathetically, caressing her belly gently, and Beca fought the urge to kick her in the head.

(Beca had seen the others when they were feeling particularly hormotional, and it was no picnic. Fat Amy was angry, Stacie was horny, Aubrey was fierce, and Chloe was teary. Seeing Chloe break down in tears had bewildered Beca because she was so bright and bubbly, and Beca didn't have a clue what to do.)

"Honey, I'm home!" Jesse sang from downstairs, and Aubrey wrinkled her nose at how incredibly cheesy the boy was.

"How was your day, Bec?" he called up the stairs and Stacie frowned, ready to make up a story.

"It was horrible". She fought the smile off her face as he poked his head lovingly into their bedroom, and of course, he saw right through her.

"You're lying", he said automatically.

"Do you doubt the pregnant, Treble?" Aubrey said sharply, and Jesse's chest hitched.

Fat Amy kissed Beca's bulging stomach once more (because she had become even more touchy feely than Chloe when she found out Beca was pregnant), before departing. "See ya later flat butt".

(Her butt was far from flat, but she would take all the compliments she could in her whale-like state.)

Farewelling Stacie and Aubrey, Chloe was the only one left.

"Thanks for coming, Chloe", Beca said, standing up and yawning.

Farewelling the redhead, Jesse put an arm around his wife, kissing her temple gently. "You had a good day, didn't you?"

"You'll never know", she said, as he pressed a kiss to her stomach.

"What about you bubby, were you good for Mummy?"

"You need to have a talk with Fat Amy", she blurted out. "She spent the whole day... MOLESTING me! Seriously, this is not her kid!"

Jesse just laughed at the horrified look on Beca's face, and she glared.

"This isn't funny, Swanson. One kid, that's all".

"No, no". He shook his head. "I predicted everything else, I'm making one more. This isn't going to be the last time you balance your cereal bowl on your tummy every morning. We will have at least two aca babies".

"In your dreams, weirdo". She rolled her eyes, as he kissed her.


	12. Home

In her second year at Barden, Beca had a dorm of her own (after a whole summer of pleading with her father- she didn't want to be stuck with Kimmy Jin for another year), and slowly but surely, Jesse's belongings began to make their way from his room in the Treble house (sharing again with Benji) into her room. She didn't mind, because his clothes were so much comfier than hers anyway, and it made her dorm room feel like home.

With his movies littering the desk that used to solely hold her music equipment and his clothing tucked into the drawers that held her singlets and jeans, his presence was around even when he wasn't. the way his smell made its way onto her pillows, making her miss him even more than she thought possible when he wasn't around.

(But that wasn't a problem. He was always around. He was there to sing her name, no matter what day it was.)

On their first night in LA, their apartment had no power. It was cold and dark and Jesse and Beca were left shivering. But Jesse hauled all their blankets onto their bed, lighting candles throughout the house. The apartment- their home- was lit up by candlelight, as Jesse ran to the store to buy a bag of popcorn ("I had to get the pre-popped stuff, Bec, how sad is that?" "That's pretty much the saddest thing I've ever heard". "Your sarcasm is not needed or appreciated".) And a box of juice pouches, as they snuggled together with The Breakfast Club playing on Jesse's laptop.

(It wasn't the only movie she could stand, but it was her favourite. Not that she had a favourite movie.)

With Beca's music and Jesse's movies and the cheesy photographs Jesse insisted on taking (because Beca was about ninety eight percent sure the boy was scrapbooking their lives), they had made their apartment in LA theirs. But it wasn't home.

Their first house they bought together was the one they called home. It was the one Beca and Jesse painted and redecorated, splurging and buying the big sound system in the living room ("Beca! Look how good I can moviecate you now! Look how big the screen is! We won't ever have to go to the cinemas again!" "Jesse we both know that's not going to stop you". "It's like having our own cinema!"). It was the house that they called theirs.

It held Beca's studio, and Jesse's movies. It was where the two of them would come at the end of the day, soaking in each other's company, without having to say anything at all.

It was the house they fixed together. It was the house they spent two years decorating, painting, choosing furniture and putting up photos.

It was the house in which Beca had fallen pregnant with their daughter, the house that they had decorated for the newborn. They had spent the time painting the walls of the nursery, choosing the furniture and preparing themselves for a child.

(Including rehearsing the drive to the hospital, with Jesse's carefully planned four different routes in case there was a natural disaster of some sort.)

It was the house Molly was brought home to, the couple walking around with their two day old daughter, introducing her to things that she would get to know as she got older. It was the house where Molly said her first words ('Mama', to Beca's extreme delight), took her first steps (right into the waiting arms of her daddy, Uncle Benji being so excited he almost dropped the camera) and learned to run. It was where she had discovered her love for music and her love for movies, where she laughed and played and acted like a true eighteen month old.

When Beca and Jesse had first moved, their house was clean. Too clean, almost. But then Jesse's movies littered the coffee table, and Beca left her half full mugs of coffee or tea lying around. And with a child, Molly's toys were scattered underfoot and their bathroom, which had once been clean and white, was covered in her bath crayon drawings (because Molly loved the set she had at Aunt Chloe's house, Aunt Chloe had gone out and bought the little girl her own, much to the absolute delight of her parents).

But it didn't matter. Because they were home.

When they got married, Jesse had told her that it didn't matter where in the world they were; as long as they were together they would be home. Because, he had said, she was his home.

(The nerd had her bawling at her own wedding, and Beca was not an emotional person.)

"Miss Molly had a bad dream", Jesse murmured, coming into the room with their daughter curled in his chest. Molly's thumb had worked its way into her mouth, with her beloved, faded Bellas scarf dangling under one arm.

"Mummy", she whispered around her thumb, and Beca held her arms out.

"Come here baby", she murmured, cradling her gently and kissing the top of her head. Molly curled into her chest, relaxing immediately, and Beca lay back against the bed.

But at that very moment, with her daughter in her arms and Jesse's arms around her, she knew she was home. Because as cheesy as it was, Jesse was her home (damnit, nerd) and Molly made it perfect.


	13. Birth

"I wish this baby would hurry up", Beca groaned, shifting uncomfortably on the lounge. "I can't see my toes".

"They're still there, Bec". Jesse grinned at her from where her feet were resting in his lap, and she glared back.

"You're not funny, Jesse".

(So she'd told him multiple times.)

"Any day now", he tried to assure her.

(He'd been assuring her that since the thirty six week mark. And every day she just glared at him more. Jesse's mother had just made it worse- "the baby will come when the baby's ready, Beca sweetie, Jesse was eight days late". Beca had cried the entire way home at the news. "This baby is not taking after their father, Jesse! They are not taking after you!" "Yes dear".)

"Come on, let's go to bed", Jesse said, as he shifted her feet to stand up. "You know, the doctor said there was one way to induce-"

"I'm not having sex with you, Jesse".

"Let's go to bed". Helping her up, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

* * *

"Another day and I'm still freaking pregnant".

Don't get her wrong- Beca Swanson was over the moon excited when she found out about their miracle. But after almost a full nine months, she was ready to hold their baby (despite how scared shitless she was that she would screw something up).

"The baby-"

"I swear to God, Jesse, if you say 'the baby will come when the baby wants to come' one more time, I'll have your vocal cords ripped out by wolves".

(Aubrey Posen, their dear friend and appointed Aunt Aubrey to their baby, had memorable sayings. And Beca and Jesse managed to work them into their everyday conversation just to irk the blonde. "Dixie Chick serious, we still say that Aubrey". "Shut up Mitchell, dear God!" "Swanson to you, Posen".)

"I'm going to have a shower", Jesse said, leaning over to kiss his wife. He felt her smile as his lips met hers, grinning a little to himself, as he pressed a kiss to her protruding stomach. "Be good for your mummy".

Beca winced, as she felt a particularly sharp kick. "Oh, God".

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. This baby loves their dad; they kick insanely hard when you're around".

Jesse grinned proudly, as he half closed the bathroom door. "Baby loves me!"

"They better, this is the one and only kid you're getting".

"No way, you're gonna look cute balancing your cereal bowl on your tummy at least once more", he called back to her with a grin, turning on the shower and stepping inside.

Beca shifted onto her side, rubbing her protruding tummy. "Hurry up baby", she whispered. "Your daddy wants to meet you. I want to meet you, too. We're not gonna be like my parents, baby. I promise".

She felt a kick, smiling quietly, before she felt a sharp twinge she'd never felt before.

"Oh my God".

And after feeling it twice more, she knew that there was something more.

"Holy shit. Oh, holy shit! Jesse?" she called, hearing the panic in her voice. "Jesse, get out of the shower now!"

"What's wrong, Bec?" Jesse called from underneath the water.

"Jesse, GET OUT OF THE SHOWER NOW!" she bellowed.

With only a towel around him, Jesse stumbled down the hallway, panic wild in his eyes. "Are you okay, Beca? Is the baby okay?"

"Jesse, I'm not a hundred percent sure", she said, trying to keep her voice calm, "But I think I'm having contractions".

Abandoning his towel, Jesse ferreted for clothes, throwing them on and grabbing the phone. "Holy shit, Beca! Get in the car! I'll call the hospital and Chloe- do we need an ambulance?"

"No, no ambulance". She shook her head, trying not to show him the fear she was feeling. "Just… call Chloe and the hospital. I'll get the bag-"

"No!" he lunged for it, helping her up. "Let's go! We're havin' a baby!"

With the bag over one shoulder, the phone pressed to his ear and his arms around Beca, he guided her down to the car.

"Hello?" Chloe said brightly down the phone.

"Holy crap, Chloe Beale, get ready to be a godmother!"

"Next time start with hello", Beca advised from the passenger seat, wincing a little as she stretched the seatbelt over her stomach.

"Oh my God! Beca's in labour! I'll meet you there! I'll tell everyone!" and Chloe promptly hung up, leaving Jesse talking into thin air.

"Jesse". Beca frowned. "Let's go!"

Apparently, her 'let's go' translated directly into 'ignore every road rule and law', and Beca clutched the door, fearing for her life. At that moment, she wasn't scared of giving birth and didn't even feel the twinges of contractions, she was more worried about getting to the hospital on time.

"JESSE!" she screeched, as the car flew through the red light. "HOLY SHIT! OH MY GOD!"

"Is it the baby?"

"Watch the freaking road!"

* * *

"Everyone's here", Chloe reported, coming back into the room just as Beca let out a painful squeak. "How far dilated are you, Bec?"

"Three centimetres", Jesse supplied, and Beca frowned.

"Yes, thank you for reminding me of that, you are NOT HELPING".

Beca Swanson was a strong woman. And she was a strong woman who was going to get through the birth of her child without the assistance of drugs, no matter how many times her stupid husband asked.

"I asked if you had changed your mind about the epidural once", Jesse complained, and Chloe reached over to smack him.

"Now is not the time".

Chloe, as promised, had brought the whole gang to the hospital. Fat Amy was sitting beside the vending machine, offering around snacks, while Lily stared impatiently at the clock. Aubrey, in the waiting room, was choking back vomit in anticipation (because as much as they all wished she had outgrown that habit, she hadn't), and Benji was nervously pacing, awaiting the arrival of his niece or nephew. Donald was as cool as a cucumber, keeping a constant Twitter update (because Aubrey had demanded updates on the brunette, and Chloe was quick to oblige).

* * *

"You're doing really well, Bec", Jesse said soothingly, squeezing her hand right back (for a little woman, the brunette had much more strength then he had originally thought).

"I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you I hate you". Beca gritted her teeth, glaring at Jesse with such ferocity he was surprised he didn't melt through the floor.

"You're so close now, sweetie, it won't be long until you're holding your baby", the nurse told her from the end of the bed.

(Beca had to fight the urge to kick her in the head, because she had told her that four times already.)

"Touch me again", Beca said through gritted teeth, squeezing Jesse's hand so tight he was three hundred percent positive she broke it, "and I'll drown you, you bastard".

He squeezed her hand back, wishing he could take away the pain.

"Almost there, sweetie", Chloe said reassuringly from Beca's other side. "Almost there".

"You told me those twenty minutes ago!" she let out a strangled scream, "Get out get out get out get out!"

Jesse looked at Chloe in alarm, and Beca rolled her eyes, smacking him in the chest with the hand she had clutched in his.

"I was talking to your child, don't you DARE leave me! This is your fault!"

Even in the throes of labour, in the middle of bringing their child into the world, Jesse noted, Beca still struggled in believing that he wasn't going to leave her. Despite how hard he tried to assure her, Beca was convinced that one day, he was going to up and leave, abandoning her and their aca child.

He wasn't her father. And he wasn't going to be her father.

"It hurts, Jess", she whimpered, pulling him closer, and his heart ached.

"I know, Bec, I know. I'm sorry". He kissed the top of her head gently, brushing back sweaty strands of hair off her forehead. "But you're so close; we're so close to holding our baby".

"Okay, Mrs Swanson, you're ready to push", the doctor told her, and hot tears leaked down her cheeks.

"You ready, Bec?" Jesse said, and Beca shook her head.

"Yes you are, hun", Chloe assured her, as Beca squeezed her hand. "You're so close now; we're going to be holding that baby before we know it".

Beca screamed and clenched her teeth and Jesse was right there beside her the whole time. Because she knew, right then, that Jesse wouldn't leave her. He was her nerd, and she was his weirdo.

"The baby's crowning!"

"It hurts so much", Beca sobbed, and Jesse ached to take her pain away.

"I know, baby, I know".

"Almost there!" Chloe encouraged, squeezing Beca's hand just as hard. "One more push, Becs!"

With a scream that reverberated around the room, Beca gave one final push, and a second scream, after six long hours, filled the room.

"It's a girl!" the doctor announced, and Beca felt every negative emotion, every insult that she had thrown at both Jesse and Chloe, rush away, as she strained to see her daughter.

Because she, Beca Swanson, was a mum.

"Congratulations, Mrs Swanson", the nurse said with a wide smile, as she placed the baby on Beca's chest.

"Welcome to the world, Molly Claire", Jesse said, looking at his wife and his daughter and wondering how on earth they had created something so incredible.

"Molly", Beca confirmed, and Chloe kissed the top of Beca's head.

"Beca, oh my God, she is so beautiful", the redhead said softly.

"Meet your goddaughter, Chloe Beale", Jesse whispered. "Hey Molly, Mummy and I have been waiting for you! Oh, you're so beautiful. You're so beautiful, just like your mummy, and you're all ours. No boy will ever go near my girl. No one will ever love you as much as I do".

"She's gorgeous", Beca cried, as she cradled her daughter. Molly looked into her mother's eyes and let out a little snuffle, as Beca moved the blanket covering her. "Welcome to the world, Molly, I love you so, so much".

Jesse Swanson had made her a wife, and she had made him a father. And the three of them were a family.


	14. Zoo

Ninety seven percent of the time, Beca Swanson felt like she was raising two children. Because Jesse was more so of a child than their one and a half year old daughter.

"We're going to the zoo, Molly!" Jesse said for the umpteenth time, tossing the little girl into the air and making her squeal with excitement. "With Mummy and Aunt Chloe and Aunt Aubrey and Aunt Lily and Aunt Stacie and Aunt Cynthia Rose-"

"Dude, you need to chill", Beca said, from where she was packing the essentials they would need into a backpack (because Beca was a mum, and knew the kind of essentials a day trip would require).

But he was on a roll, and really, she should have known better than to try and intervene.

"-and Uncle Benji and Uncle Donald and Aunt Amy!"

The Swanson family were going to the zoo. But it wasn't just the Swanson family going.

Jesse had invited their entire aca pella family, to mark Molly's first zoo trip.

"Molly's excited, Bec!" he protested, her previous words having registered to his ears.

Beca was excited too, don't get her wrong. She had liked (perhaps even loved) the zoo as a child (Jesse had fallen off the bed in disbelief when he found out. "Beca Mitchell, hater of all things fun and good in the world, liked the zoo?" "That's Swanson to you"), and was excited to be taking their daughter.

What she wasn't too thrilled about was taking their entire aca pella family along.

(Because they couldn't go anywhere without Fat Amy doing something inappropriate, or Lily doing something illegal, or God forbid one of Benji's magic tricks going wrong. It was inevitable.)

* * *

"At the zoo, woo hoo!" Fat Amy hollered, climbing out of the driver's seat of Cynthia Rose's car.

As usual, when taking a group outing (something Beca didn't like to encourage, because Aubrey had gotten shirts made for situations like that- and Beca didn't do matching shirts), they took four cars. Donald's (because it was an unspoken rule that Donald would always be the designated driver), Cynthia Rose's (with Amy behind the wheel, because she had been designated driver in their Bellas days and was unwilling to give up the position), Aubrey's (because Aubrey liked to be in charge and being behind the wheel gave her that control) and Jesse's (Beca's, actually, because Beca's was equipped with a car seat and all the necessities for keeping a one and a half year old entertained in the backseat- Jesse had a freaking DVD player back there. There was no way Molly would ever be bored).

It was a giant convoy, with Donald in the lead (despite Fat Amy trying to overtake him multiple times and wanting to race) and Jesse and Beca and Molly bringing up the rear ("you drive like an old lady, Swanson". "I'm doing the speed limit and obeying the road rules, Beca").

"Molly!" Chloe said in delight, as Beca lifted her daughter out of the car. Molly beamed, reaching out for the redhead, as Jesse hoisted the stroller out of the boot.

"Dude, you saw her like half an hour ago", Beca reminded Chloe, as Chloe hugged her niece so hard Beca had to fear for her life. "Chloe! Release!"

As Chloe reluctantly handed Molly to Jesse (who promptly strapped Molly into her stroller), Fat Amy wandered over.

"Where's my favourite girl?" she cooed, and Molly squealed excitedly.

Beca was completely biased, but Molly was by far the cutest kid she had ever seen. And their fellow Bellas and Trebles had similar thoughts (if Molly wasn't strapped into her stroller, she didn't know where she'd end up- Chloe and Fat Amy had tried to smuggle her out of the hospital room at three hours old).

"Molly!" Jesse called from behind the stroller, as he led the group into the zoo. "Do you see the monkeys?"

Molly struggled to sit up straighter, as she looked around in amazement. Her words were garbled with excitement, as she beamed at her parents.

"Monkeys, yeah!" Beca agreed, and Aubrey grinned.

"You're a monkey, aren't you Molly?" Jesse said, and Molly frowned at her father.

"No".

Donald chuckled, and Jesse glared.

* * *

"Molly eats ice cream, doesn't she?" Donald wanted to know, as he handed around waffle cones.

"Everyone eats ice cream", Fat Amy reminded him.

Jesse nodded. "Molly loves ice cream".

"Good, I got her a Dixie cup". He passed Jesse the little blue tub, and Molly's eyes lit up.

"Yum! Yummy yummy yum!"

"That's so cute!" Chloe crooned.

"Her words have just taken off in the last few weeks", Beca said proudly.

"Bee!" Molly called (almost to prove her mother's point), snatching the spoon away from her father and sucking on it cheerfully. When Aubrey looked, Molly waved cheekily, before reaching out to grab more ice cream.

"She said my name first!" Aubrey couldn't help but gloat.

(When Fat Amy had found out that Molly had said Aubrey's name first, she had started to bribe her. First with M&Ms, but her bribes had gotten bigger. It was almost as if Molly was taunting her by not saying her name, Stacie had chuckled, and if looks could kill, the brunette would be six foot under.)

"Can you say Aunt Amy, Molly?" Fat Amy crooned. "Can you say Fat Amy?"

"No".

Laughter rang through the group, as Fat Amy's shoulders slumped.

"Where are we going next, Molly?" Benji cooed, and Molly's looked around wildly.

"Mumkees".

"We're gonna go and see the monkeys again", Stacie translated. "I like the monkeys. The lions are my favourite, though, because-"

Beca looked at Cynthia Rose, who wordlessly clapped a hand over Stacie's mouth.

(As much as Beca and Jesse adored the brunette, they did not want their one and a half year old scarred by beloved Aunt Stacie. And as much as Stacie tried, she did not have a filter.)

"I had a monkey once", Lily whispered, and Molly just stared, the mirror image of her mother, copying her Aunt Aubrey exactly.

* * *

"Where the hell did we accumulate all this?" Beca demanded, as she pushed the stroller towards the cars. Molly was slumped face down in her stroller, clutching her orang-utan, a gift from Aunt Amy ("Because it reminds her of Aunt Chloe", Fat Amy had said sincerely upon purchasing it, and Chloe had beat her with a helium balloon, Aubrey stepping in to intervene), as balloons decorated the stroller.

"it's been a long day, Beca", Benji said uncertainly (he had collected a balloon every time they went past the lunch tables, and they had passed them nine times, Jesse giggling along with him). "There were a lot of people with balloons".

"Are we still going back to your place for pizza?" Cynthia Rose wanted to know, and Jesse shrugged.

"Sure- this one's out for the night".

Beca lifted her sleeping daughter out of the stroller, her orang-utan in one hand and her beloved Bellas scarf in the other (something Aubrey took great delight in), face smeared with ice cream. Strapping her into the car seat (Molly's head slumping to the side in her sleep); she turned back to their family.

"If you guys order the pizza when we're halfway home, we can pick it up on the way", she offered.

"No, we'll pick it up", Chloe said immediately. "Aubrey and I will go and get it, you get Molly into bed".

Jesse nodded in agreement.

"We'll meet you back at ours".

"Bye!"

Chloe wrapped Beca in a bone crushing hug, squeezing the tiny brunette into her ample chest.

"Oof- oh my God! Boobs, Chloe, boobs! You're crushing me!"

"We're gonna see earspike and crew in like half an hour, Chloe", Aubrey reminded her, and Fat Amy took it upon herself to haul the two apart.

"Let's get this show on the road, I'm starving!" she announced.

Piling into their respective cars, Donald led their convoy (because they had ended up becoming the kind of people that travelled in convoys) back towards Jesse and Beca's house (the original meeting spot for their zoo escapade).

"She loved it", Beca gushed to Jesse, as she flicked through photos she had captured during the day (all the while trying not to gush, because Jesse would never let her live it down).

"I told you she would", Jesse said simply, his eyes not leaving the road. "There's no one in the world that could possibly hate the zoo".

"Aca-scuse me? Pretty sure that was me, buddy. Pretty sure I told you that she'd love it".

"Oh, whatever, sweetheart". Jesse's face had a grin that was way too smug on his face, and Beca resisted the urge to smack him.

"Don't you sweetheart me!"

Jesse and Beca, the aca pella couple that couldn't go two minutes without an argument.

By the time they had returned home (Chloe and Aubrey with the pizza in tow), Molly was wide away and up and running, completely ignoring any instruction from her parents. Wrestling her into the bath and pyjamas respectively, they allowed her to run wild to entertain her aunts and uncles, sitting down to their pizza dinner.

"You two made such a cute kid", Fat Amy said conversationally, as she bit into her sixth slice of pizza.

"Yeah, when are you having another one?" Donald said, just to stir the pot. Benji started to giggle as Beca literally inhaled a piece of pepperoni.

"Aca scuse me?" Jesse's eyebrows shot off his head, as Chloe smacked his wife on the back to dislodge the pepperoni round from her throat.

"Only child!" she gasped out, Molly looking at her mother in concern.

"Touch her again and she'll drown you, you-"

Lily grabbed Stacie before the brunette could finish, Beca's words from the delivery room making everyone chuckle.

"Mummy?" Molly said tentatively, throwing herself onto the lounge beside her mother.

"Yeah?" Beca answered, once her choking had stopped and her breathing had returned back to normal. Molly just threw her arms around her mother and smacked a sloppy, open mouthed kiss to her lips, hugging her tight.

"I love you too, Molly". Beca grinned, hugging her back and inhaling the scent of Molly's baby shampoo and powder.

"No more?" Chloe said hopefully, and Jesse shook his head.

"Not at this stage".

"This one's perfect, anyway", Stacie said, wording what they were all thinking.

Molly just grinned the cheeky smirk she had inherited from her father, her Bellas scarf in one hand and her new orang-utan in the other.


	15. Santa

Beca knew right from the get go that Jesse at Christmas time would be more… intense than the rest of the year. Because he had the dorky Christmas sweaters with knitted reindeers, the dorm he shared with Benji had a mini Christmas tree (courtesy of his mother) and he gave her gingerbread along with juice pouches.

So she didn't allow herself to be surprised when he took her home for Christmas. Tinsel and wreaths decorated every nook and cranny, and she had taken to looking up when she walked, because she didn't know where she'd find the darn mistletoe. Caroline and Barry Swanson were even more festive (if possible) then their son, but she embraced the holiday (embroidered Santa hat and all, Caroline had shoved it at her as she walked through the door).

The Christmas that Beca was pregnant (Molly was their May baby, and at that time, Beca only had a tiny bump, barely visible through her reindeer sweater), their whole aca pella family found the need to pile the living room high in toys that their niece or nephew would need (Jesse took great delight in ripping open the packages, and Beca shook her head, getting a glimpse at what Christmas morning in the future would be like for the Swanson family).

"How are you two going to approach the whole 'Santa situation'?" Benji had asked curiously, as he sipped his hot chocolate.

"My father told me that Santa didn't exist", Aubrey said painfully (clearly still harbouring regret about the child that missed out on Santa), and Chloe patted her knee comfortingly.

"That explains so much", Fat Amy mumbled, and Beca nodded, feeling slightly sorry for the uptight blonde.

"We'll let them figure it out", Jesse said after a moment.

"I'm happy to dress up as Santa!" Fat Amy said quickly, before Benji or Donald could snag her position (she was their child's fun aunt, after all, as she reminded them on a daily basis).

Beca and Jesse (everybody, actually) had laughed at the idea, and continued along with the festivities.

The next Christmas, where they had a baby, Jesse went all out. He was even more festive than he usually was. He took Molly to multiple mall Santas, scouting which one looked the most authentic for the photo (that he sent to everyone inside the Swanson family Christmas card- Beca had had to get a new reindeer sweater for the picture), bought every single 'baby's first Christmas' ornament he could find and tried as hard as he could to convince his wife that their daughter absolutely needed four identical bears, with different coloured ribbons.

("No, Jesse". "But Bec-ca!")

(Beca wasn't a scrooge, but shopping with her husband during the holiday season always made her sound like one.)

But Christmas that year was absolutely insane (because apparently Jesse had been going easy, with a newborn). As in tinsel, fairy lights, baubles, reindeer antlers and embroidered Santa hats, Jesse singing Christmas carols a solid eighteen hours a day insane.

(Beca didn't know how she had survived up until that point. She was sure Molly's second Christmas was going to be her breaking point.)

"Phone!" Jesse screamed from the stairs (where he was stringing tinsel through the banister- a job that he had realised he hadn't done at eleven thirty eight at night, and had jumped out of bed, scaring the absolute shit out of Beca). "Where were we, Molly?"

Molly simply shook her bells a little louder, as Jesse launched into yet another round of 'Jingle Bells'.

"Hello?" Beca said into the phone, trying to escape the madness that was her house, as she plopped herself down on a chair in the kitchen.

"Hey Becs!" Chloe said brightly. "Happy Christmas Eve!"

"Thanks, Chloe". Beca smiled, the redhead's perkiness always bringing a grin to her face.

"Listen, what time are we getting to your place tomorrow? Benji seems so think the earlier the better, but Fat Amy's only able to stay until four because she's Skyping her family in Tasmania and promised to return her cousin's brother in law's sister in law's Uncle's Santa suit by six".

"WHAT?"

"Is that Benji?" Jesse called, pausing his carolling for a moment. "Molly, come on, let's go and hang some mistletoe in the hall".

"It's Chloe- and not near the front door! Remember, Stacie's coming tomorrow". Shaking her head, she focused back on the conversation. "Chloe, what?"

"Fat Amy borrowed her cousin's brother in law's sister in law's Uncle's Santa suit-"

"She was SERIOUS?"

"Dixie Chick serious!"

"Oh my God!"

"Did Fat Amy get the Santa suit?" Jesse poked his head into the room, Molly in one arm and a bunch of mistletoe in the other. "She did, didn't she?"

"Only until four", Chloe corrected down the phone. "So we'll get to yours in the morning and stay for dinner… I don't know what time we'll be leaving, but I promised to phone home tomorrow night. Fat Amy sent me a photo of her in the Santa suit; do you want me to send it to you?"

"Oh sweet Jesus…"

"Oh, did Benji call Jesse?"

"Jesse! Talk to Chloe". Beca motioned for her husband to come back into the room, and Jesse set the mistletoe down, offering to swap Molly for the phone. "Talk to you tomorrow, Chloe".

"See you tomorrow, Bec! Love you!"

"Love you too Chlo".

Handing the phone to Jesse (who immediately started talking about matching embroidered Santa hats and how his mother had sent one for everyone), she took Molly in her arms, smiling at the sweet little girl.

"Oh baby, you have no idea what they've got in store for you", she told her, gently brushing aside stray curls.

Molly smiled at her mother, resting her head on her chest, absolutely oblivious.

* * *

That night, Beca truly saw a glimpse into Jesse's childhood (as if spending every Christmas with the Swanson family hadn't been enough). After Molly was fed and bathed, dressed in her red and white candy cane striped pyjamas (if she was completely honest, Beca didn't even need convincing because they were freaking adorable), Jesse helped her set out chocolate chip biscuits and a glass of milk (with the matching 'to Santa' crockery that Aubrey had purchased), before settling down on the couch. With Molly in his lap, he opened his well-worn, dog eared copy of _The Night before Christmas_ (the same copy his mother had read to the whole family every Christmas Eve, and the same copy that Jesse insisted on reading to Beca right before they went to bed).

"_T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there_", he said to Molly, who looked up at her father in wide-eyed fascination.

He had her full attention for the whole story, as she rested her sleepy head on his chest. Beca smiled, capturing the moment with her iPhone, before settling back to hear the story.

"_He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, and away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, 'ere he drove out of sight, 'merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night'_!" Jesse closed the book, setting it aside to shift their ninety percent asleep daughter. Beca held her arms out for the sleeping child, kissing the top of her head and carrying her towards the stairs.

Laying her down in her cot and tucking her in, she kissed her forehead again.

"Nigh nigh Mama", Molly said sleepily.

"Good night Molly", Beca said softly, closing the door quietly and padding back downstairs.

Jesse was crouched under the tree, Molly's milk and cookies for Santa beside him.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Preparing for Santa in the morning"! He said brightly, like it was the most normal thing in the world.

(And Beca hated the fact that in that house, it was the most normal thing in the world.)

* * *

"_We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year_!"

It was Aubrey Posen who initiated the early morning sing along into Beca and Jesse's house. At eight a.m.

Beca was not a morning person.

(Molly had seemed to catch onto her father's festivities and the little girl was up at eleven minutes past five. Jesse had seized the opportunity, ripping Beca out of their warm bed and plucking Molly out of her cot, racing downstairs to rip open their presents (Beca's eyes only half open, but grinning nonetheless as Molly exclaimed excitedly over her gifts).

"Merry Christmas, Aubrey!"

As they made themselves comfortable in the living room (Jesse distributing the embroidered Santa hats that his mother had sent especially), Beca scanned the room. There was no Santa suit, which she didn't mind so much… but the fact that there was no Fat Amy all together worried her.

(During their Bellas days, Fat Amy had always tried to convince her to allow her to swing from the rafters during a performance. "Come on, Shawshank! It'll be fun! I'll show all you flat butts how to do it, I did it at home in Tasmania!".)

They spent the next half an hour exchanging gifts, cooing over Molly in her candy cane pyjamas ("are they not just the cutest thing ever?" Jesse had cooed, and they were unanimous in agreeing). But Fat Amy had yet to make an appearance.

"Come on, Becs, let's get this lunch happening", Chloe said, offering a hand to the tiny brunette (who was squashed between her daughter, husband and the tree).

"Santa's here!"

Beca and Molly's eyes grew comically wide, as they turned towards the door.

"Santa!" Molly screamed at the top of her lungs, lunging towards her aunt in disguise.

Even with the beard and red costume, Fat Amy's thick Australian accent was hard to mask- but Molly didn't care. As far as the one and a half year old was concerned, Santa Claus was in her living room with a sack of presents, for her.

"Santa spoils you, Molly!" Benji laughed, as Molly climbed onto Fat Amy's knee, chatting away cheerfully. Stacie beamed at her, cooing sweetly.

(Beca had to watch out, because if she wasn't careful, Molly would go home with one of her aunts or uncles.)

"Bee, look!" Molly thrust a book at Aubrey, a grin a kilometre wide threatening to crack her face. "Lo-ee, look! Lil-lee!"

(Aubrey would be gloating about Molly saying her name first until the day she died, Beca just knew it. And Chloe was a close second.)

Christmas in the Swanson house, with their whole aca pella family (and Fat Amy's cousin's brother in law's sister in law's uncle's Santa suit) would no doubt get bigger and better as the years went on. With Jesse's growing Christmas ornament and decoration collection, Chloe's adoration for carols, and Fat Amy's need to play the fun aunt at all times, there was no doubt that Molly's third Christmas would be even huger.

But Beca was happy settling for what they had. Her daughter, celebrating with her menagerie of aunts and uncles, her husband and their home.

Because that was what Christmas was all about.


	16. Sick

Beca and Jesse were deep in sleep, Beca curled into her husband side (Jesse called her the human straightjacket because the tiny brunette was a cuddler when she was asleep), oblivious to the world. But only moments they were startled awake, Beca blinking around blindly.

"MUMMMMMMMM-MMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Beca groaned, settling back against her pillow. "What's the time?"

"Dunno".

"Have a look".

"My eyes are shut".

Squinting at the clock and letting out a groan, Beca shut her eyes again. "Leave her for a minute; she's old enough to self-settle".

Molly had been self-settling after nightmares or bad dreams for almost three months at that point, which Beca and Jesse thought was very impressive, considering she was only one and a half.

Jesse groaned in agreement, not opening his eyes for a second.

But when Molly continued to scream, Beca just groaned, kicking off her blankets. "Molly, come on, it's three a.m!" she complained.

(Molly hadn't clued onto the fact that her mother was not a morning person. If Beca had her way, she wouldn't be out of bed until noon at the earliest.)

Padding down the hallway she nudged open Molly's door, and was almost blown over by the smell.

"Oh sweet Jesus, Molly, what happened?"

Flicking on the light, the room was illuminated and Beca felt her eyes burn, as she glanced around the room. Molly was standing up in her cot, clutching the bars, tears streaming down her face. Her pyjamas and the bedding of her cot were soaked in vomit, as she clutched the filthy Bellas scarf in her hand.

"Oh, Molly", Beca said sympathetically, trying not to gag herself.

Molly was unlike other children Beca knew- instead of getting a few illnesses throughout the year, she got one big sickness that knocked her for six. When she was seven months old, she had come down with a stomach bug that they wanted to hospitalise her for, because her tiny stomach was unable to keep anything down.

"Oh, Molly", Beca said, as she lifted Molly into her arms.

"Mama", Molly whined, before retching again. Beca squeezed her eyes shut at the impact, as vomit trickled down her back and hair.

Gagging herself (because she couldn't handle vomit), she hollered for Jesse.

"Swanson, you get your ass in here now!"

Molly clung to her, as she buried her head in her neck.

"It's alright, shhh", Beca said softly, brushing her hair out of her eyes as she felt for a temperature. Her forehead was burning, and Beca's eyes widened.

"Jesse!" she screeched, and Jesse stumbled out of the hallway.

"What's wrong?" he croaked, before taking in Molly's bedroom. "Oh hoy shit. What happened?"

"She's sick, Jess", Beca said, rolling her eyes. "Go and run a shower".

As Molly continued to whimper, Beca peeled her daughter away from her, unsnapping her pyjamas.

"What the hell happened?" he called, as he headed towards their bathroom. Turning on the shower and sticking his hand underneath until he declared it warm enough for their daughter, he moved out into the hallway.

Beca had stripped her daughter completely naked before taking off her own vomit stained pyjamas, cradling her gently to her chest. Molly whimpered, as her mother carried her down the hallway, testing the water temperature before stepping into the shower.

"She's sick, Jess", Beca said, as she let the warm water run over both of their bodies. "Shhh, it's alright, Molly. It's alright, baby girl".

"I'll get started on her room", Jesse yawned, moving down the hallway.

While Jesse stripped down the little girl's bed (gagging as he put the sheets straight into the washing machine), Beca gently massaged baby shampoo through Molly's curls, her daughter resting her head against her mother's shoulder. And once they were both clean, Beca wrapped herself in a towel before lifting Molly into her arms.

"Come on, let's get you into some clean jamas and get some medicine into your belly".

Keeping a towel wrapped tightly around her, Beca dressed Molly into a clean nappy and clean pyjamas, drying her hair as best as she could, before taking her downstairs.

"Her scarf's in the wash", Jesse said as a way of greeting, coming towards them with a dropper of children's paracetamol. Squirming, Molly reluctantly swallowed the cherry flavoured medicine, looking around to find her scarf.

"Don't you have another one?" Jesse asked helplessly, and Beca shook her head.

"We've been through this a million times, Jesse", she almost snapped, passing Molly to her husband. "Can you put her to bed; I've got to get dressed. It's freezing".

While Beca changed into clean pyjamas, Jesse settled Molly into the cot, and little tears formed in her eyes.

"Daddy!"

She stood up on the mattress, clinging to the bars and reaching out to her father. So Jesse scooped her out of the bed, holding her tight and rocking her gently.

'come on, let's go", he told her, pulling back the blankets of their own bed. When Beca emerged from the bathroom, she just shook her head in amusement, crawling onto her side.

"Night Molly", she said quietly, brushing her hand over Molly's burning forehead. "If she throws up in this bed, Swanson, I'll cry".

"You put up with Aubrey, I'm sure you can put up with a little kid". Jesse smirked, despite the situation, and Beca thumped him across their daughter.

* * *

Molly was sick twice more during the night, but by the time morning rolled around, she had crashed.

"Are you going to work?" Beca grumbled to Jesse.

"For a bit, Becs, I have to". He pressed a kiss to her forehead, running his fingers through Molly's hair. "I'll call to check up on her, okay?"

"Mmmm". Beca mumbled, trying to force her eyes open.

"Love you".

Yawing sleepily, Beca kicked off her blankets, forcing her eyes open. She frowned as she ran her hand over Molly's still warm forehead, as her breathing hitched in her sleep. She had spent the entire night unsettled, but it seemed that Molly had finally calmed down.

"Poor thing", Beca said softly, as she tucked the blankets around her a little tighter.

Moving her laptop into the bedroom, she sat on the bed with her big headphones on, half concentrating on the sleeping child beside her.

She had had never been too good about caring for people when they were sick- she had gotten sick multiple times during the year of their divorce, and Beca simply swallowed medicine and slept it off. During their second year of college, Jesse got sick- sicker than she had ever seen anyone before- and she spent at least an hour on the phone to Chloe every day for the week he was ill, crying. But he had been fine, and the pair had come out of it even stronger.

But it didn't mean she liked seeing people sick. She felt absolutely helpless when she did, but all Molly wanted from her was comfort, and Beca could do that.

* * *

"What's this?" Beca wanted to know, a Jesse struggled through the front door.

(Jesse was known for trying to bring in all the groceries in one trip or die trying.)

"Got stuff for us", he gasped, dumping them on the kitchen floor. "I'm making soup", he said in explanation, motioning to the bags of fresh vegetables. "There's lemonade if we get sick, and juice for Molly because she needs to keep her vitamin C levels up. I also bought water crackers because they're as bland as anything and she'll be able to keep them down. There's peppermint tea for us if we get sick and icy poles for when she's feeling better".

Beca smiled, as Jesse began to put them away.

"Yeah, I know, I'm awesome". He grinned and she flicked him with a tea towel. "How is she?"

"You'd be disappointed; she fell asleep during The Wizard of Oz".

He gasped playfully, moving into the lounge room to see her. Her eyes were droopy as she focused on the television, one hand clutching her Bellas scarf and the other with the thumb in her mouth.

That afternoon, Jesse dished up a bowlful of soup to their daughter, before passing a bowl to Beca.

"Hey Becs, you feeling okay? You look a little off".

Beca frowned. "I better not be".

But, of course, they both were. That night, while Molly slept (in their bed, again), Beca and Jesse spent the majority throwing up in the bathroom, Jesse sleeping against a towel on their bathroom floor.

Because that was just a part of parenthood.


	17. Bedtime

**This mimics the bedtime routine I have with the children I look after three times a week. Dinner, bath, quiet time (stories and a bottle for the bub, TV time for the older one) and then bedtime kisses. I don't own the song Jesse sings or 'Where oh Where is Huggle Buggle Bear' by Katherine Sully (although I do own two well-worn copies).**

* * *

Beca laughed, as Jesse wrestled Molly out of her high chair, balancing her on his knee before tugging off her bib and shirt in one motion.

"Bath time!" he announced and Molly squealed in excitement.

Their wind down routine at the end of the day was by far Beca's favourite part of the day (Stacie had teased her, saying that it was because she got to put the baby to bed and snuggle in front of a movie with her Treble, but that wasn't it at all). They got to play with Molly and hear all about her day (unable to decipher it from her thirteen month old babble), blowing bubbles in the bath and sing with her (Jesse was convinced Molly had inherited her parents' pipes, but Beca wasn't sure- it was hard to tell with the thirteen month old).

But Beca's favourite moment of the entire day was when Molly smelt sweet in her fresh, clean pyjamas and snuggled up to her mother's chest with a bottle of milk while Jesse read her favourite story. There was nothing that could compare to that feeling, as Beca cradled her sleepy daughter.

Molly shrieked with laughter as Jesse swung her through the air, before plopping her into the bubbly water. Splashing her hands excitedly, she beamed toothily up at her parents (because Molly had six teeth and was looking more and more grown up as the days went by), before scooping up a handful of bubble bath and clapping her hands together. Suds flew through the air and Beca laughed as Molly screamed with laughter.

Jesse scooped up a handful of bubble bath and tapped it to her chin, giving the impression of a beard. Beca laughed, refraining from going and grabbing her iPhone (because Jesse did that every night and almost every night she took a photo), as Molly wiped it away, smearing more and more bubbles over her face.

After a few minutes, Jesse gently massaged baby shampoo through Molly's curls, Beca tipping a cup of water over her head (shielding her eyes from the soap) to rinse it out. Molly laughed as the water trickled down her back, grinning up at her parents, eyes sparkling.

After ten more minutes of splashing (where Jesse's clothes got wetter than Molly, and she was sitting in the bath) Beca grabbed a towel and Jesse handed her the squirming child. Wrapping her up safely, she carried her down the hallway before sitting her on the change table, grabbing her pyjamas and a clean nappy.

Drying her down, she taped the nappy around her, before blowing a raspberry on her chubby belly. Molly shrieked with laughter, squirming and giggling as her mother tickled her. Jesse watched from the doorway in total adoration- there was nothing he loved more than watching his wife with their daughter.

Once Molly was dressed and her hair was dry (immediately springing back into curls), Beca lifted Molly to her hip before tossing the towel at Jesse (who caught it and whined like he did every night), moving down the stairs.

Once they reached the kitchen, Jesse plucked Molly from her mother's arms, spinning her around and making her giggle.

As Beca poured water into a sterilised bottle, Jesse danced around the kitchen with Molly in his arms, belting out one of his favourite songs.

"_I could stay awake just to hear you breathing; watch you smile while you are sleeping. While you're far away and dreaming, I could spend my life in this sweet surrender. I could stay lost in this moment forever, where every moment spent with you is a moment I treasure_", he sang, as Molly wrapped her arms around his neck.

Beca laughed, as she dumped another scoop of formula into the warmed bottle, screwing it shut and shaking it gently. She never thought she could love anyone as much as she loved Jesse, but then Molly had come along and her heart had swelled.

"Come on, Molly, almost time for bed". Beca held out her arms, and Jesse passed over their daughter, darting ahead of them to grab her favourite book off the shelf.

Where Oh Where is Huggle Buggle Bear? Beca had laughed hysterically when she heard the name of the book (a present from Aubrey before Molly was even born, because the blonde had been insistent that her niece or nephew was going to grow up a reader), but despite the name, she had grown to love it. Molly was a big reader (not so much a reader as looking at the pictures) and had hundreds of books (when Aubrey realised that Molly actually enjoyed them, she bought a stack more, to join the piles all the other Bellas and Trebles had already bought), but Huggle Buggle was by far her favourite.

Molly, her bottle in her mouth, settled against her mother's chest, staring intently at her father and the book.

"_Where oh where is Huggle Buggle Bear? I can't find him anywhere? He always hides when it is time for bed, he is such a funny bear_!" Jesse grinned, and Molly grinned around her bottle, the hand clutching her Bellas scarf absently fiddling with her mother's engagement and wedding rings.

"_Is he snacking on toast and honey, making crumbs with Babbity Bunny?" Molly shook her head enthusiastically. "No! He isn't with Babbity Bunny_".

"He's not with Babbity Bunny", Beca whispered, and Molly shook her head. She knew where Huggle Buggle Bear was. She wasn't silly.

"_Its way past Huggle Buggle's bedtime and I'm feeling very cross. I can't go to bed without him. I hope he isn't lost!_" Jesse's eyes widened dramatically, and he looked at his daughter. "Is he lost, Molly?"

She shook her head again, her eyes beginning to droop.

"_Where oh where is Huggle Buggle Bear? I can't find him anywhere! He always hides when it's time for bed. He is such a silly bear_".

"Silly Huggle Buggle", Beca agreed and Molly squeezed her hand.

"_Is he bouncing on his belly, on the sofa with Ellie Nellie_? _No! He isn't bouncing with Ellie Nellie. And he isn't playing with Babbity Bunny"_.

Shifting back into the lounge as she felt Molly get heavier and heavier (despite how light their daughter was, when she was asleep she was a deadweight. Chloe had texted them the last time she babysat for her goddaughter saying 'Molly fell asleep on me. Its like cuddling an adorable bag of cement'), Beca wrapped her arms tighter around her sleepy daughter.

"_Its way past Huggle Buggle's bedtime and I'm feeling very sleepy. I can't go to bed without him, it's much too dark and creepy_".

Molly squeezed her scarf and Beca's hand a little tighter and Beca kissed the top of her head.

"_Where oh where is Huggle Buggle Bear? I can't find him anywhere! He always hides when it's time for bed. He is such a naughty bear_!"

Beca chuckled, as Molly grinned. 'Naughty' was a word newly introduced into the Swanson house, as Molly started to walk and talk (because Jesse couldn't understand where his sweet baby girl went, when she flung a bowl of food across the kitchen in a fit of anger. "when did Molly get so naughty, Bec?").

"_Is he making lots of noise with Woolly Lamb and the other toys_? _No! He isn't playing with Woolly Lamb. He isn't bouncing with Ellie Nellie. He isn't snacking with Babbity Bunny_".

Molly shook her head, before resting her head back on her mother's chest.

"_Its way past Huggle Buggle's bedtime and now I'm feeling worried. I can't go to bed without him. That would be really horrid_".

When Jesse glanced at his daughter, Molly had a worried look on her face. It didn't matter how many times she had heard the story, she always acted out the emotion ("she gets it from her father", Beca had said on many occasions).

"_Where oh where is Huggle Buggle bear? I can't find him anywhere! He always hides when it's time for bed. He is such a bothersome bear_".

Beca grinned, and Molly blinked at him, waiting for the next page. She knew it was nearly at the end- her favourite part.

"_Is he splashing in the tub, blowing bubbles with Rubadub_? _No! He isn't splashing with Rubadub. He isn't playing with Woolly Lamb. He isn't bouncing with Ellie Nellie. He isn't snacking with Babbity Bunny_".

Beca shook her head, her fingers tracing circles on the back of Molly's hand.

"_Its way past Huggle Buggle's bedtime and now I'm feeling sad. I don't want to go to bed without him, but I think I better had…_"

Jesse paused dramatically for effect and Beca rolled her eyes, because he went through that every night.

"_I know where… there's Huggle Buggle Bear! And all the other toys. I think they must be fast asleep, so shhh! Don't make a noise_! _Night night_".

By that time, Molly's bottle was long gone and her eyes were mere blinks away from sleep. Jesse, setting the book aside, held his arms out and Beca shifted the little girl, kissing the tip of her nose.

"Good night, Molly", she whispered, standing up to follow the father daughter duo into her bedroom.

Kissing her forehead gently, he settled her down in the bed, pulling her blankets up to her shoulders and brushing her curls off her face.

"Good night Molly", he whispered, stepping away from the cot and closing the door slightly. Wrapping an arm around Beca, he kissed the top of her head, and she hugged him back. "I say this every day, but dear God, she's perfect".

Beca leaned up to kiss him, smiling. "She really is".


	18. One

**Molly, only child or a big sister? Please let me know what you think, whether it be a review or a PM, because I'd love to hear your thoughts!**

* * *

**Beca Swanson took a photo with Instagram: preparing for Molly's first birthday party tomorrow (see Jesse assisting on the couch with his eyes shut?) Can't believe she's turning one! #MollyClaireSwanson #FirstBirthday #Daughter #PartyPreparations #One **

"We made it", Jesse whispered to his wife, and Beca didn't even open her eyes, her face breaking into a wide smile.

"We made it", she echoed, rolling over to press her lips to his. "And she's still sleeping".

"It's like she knew". He grinned and Beca giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him deeper. "Ready to party today, Bec?"

"I'm a bit scared", she admitted (she'd never admitted to being scared before, but Jesse had changed her in so many ways). "I mean, Fat Amy and Chloe and Benji and Stacie… they're gonna spoil her so much we might have to move".

He laughed, throwing his head back. "They spoil her so much".

"I know- and today there's actually a reason to! Personally, I'm waiting for that cake".

(Beca had found a talent in baking in their time away from Barden, and with a bit of help from Jesse's mother, had perfected it.)

"A year ago I was going into labour".

"A year ago I broke numerous road rules to get us there on time".

"Numerous? Jess, I thought I was gonna die!" she protested.

"Mummy", Molly sang brightly from down the hallway. "Mummy Mummy Mummy… Daddy! Daddy Daddy Daddy!"

"How can anyone be that happy in the morning?" Beca wanted to know."She's your kid".

(The standard response whenever Molly did anything or said anything that was a direct trait of one of her parents).

"She's my happy sunshine baby". Jesse grinned, rolling off the bed. "Good morning Molly! Happy birthday!"

Beca followed, breaking into a grin when she saw Molly beaming, standing up in her cot.

"Mummy!" she said delightedly. "Daddy!"

Beca scooped her up before Jesse had a chance, cradling her close to her chest and breathing in her sweet baby smell. "Good morning baby, happy birthday!" she murmured. "Oh my God, how can you be one already?"

She just laughed, wrapping her arms around her mother and leaning over to smack a noisy, opened mouth kiss to her father's lips.

"Happy birthday baby girl", Jesse echoed, grinning as Molly held her arms out (because Molly was a daddy's girl, through and through). "Ready to party today?"

Molly's first birthday fell on a Saturday, which worked out great for the whole aca-family. While none of her biological grandparents could make it (although Jesse had promised to Skype his family when they lit the candles on her cake), all of her aunts and uncles were coming, no doubt laden with presents. But they weren't coming until one o'clock (Beca had insisted, despite Fat Amy's protests, because Molly needed her nap), giving Beca and Jesse a few hours to spend time with their newly turned one year old.

"What do you say, Molly, chocolate chip pancakes?"

Beca's eyes lit up (because Jesse could make one thing aside from popcorn, and if his chocolate chip pancakes were the last thing she ever ate, she would die happy), nodding enthusiastically. "I think the birthday girl wants chocolate chip pancakes".

Jesse chuckled, as he carried Molly down the stairs, Beca at his side. "Does she?"

"You want pancakes, don't you Molly?" Beca cooed, and Molly grinned, nodding enthusiastically.

"She's your kid", Jesse shot back (because for a tiny thing, Beca could pack away about eight huge chocolate chip pancakes, if she tried).

Molly's eyes widened, when the family of three entered the kitchen- the night before, Jesse and Beca had stayed up to prepare. A banner was stretched from wall to wall, while balloons were taped to the back of every chair of their dining table (three on the back of Molly's high chair). A pile of presents was sitting on the bench, waiting for Molly to demolish (although Beca and Jesse both knew that Molly got more entertainment playing with the boxes and wrapping paper, it hadn't stopped them shopping), and Beca's chocolate teddy bear shaped cake was resting on a board, covered in cling wrap.

"This is gonna be the best day ever", Jesse declared, as he pulled out a frypan and a bag of chocolate chips.

Beca glanced at the clock, as she strapped Molly into her high chair. "Do you realise that this time last year, we were driving to the hospital?"

"And Chloe was freaking out and calling everyone, and Aubrey almost hurled numerous times in the waiting room?" Jesse reminisced, cracking an egg. "Good times, hey?"

(Probably not for his wife, he winced, as he remembered the look of pain and terror on her face. And the shouts of abuse directed his way.)

"Only child, Jesse", she reminded him (as if he needed reminding. If Jesse ended up in therapy later on in life, his wife would be the sole blame).

"I know, I know, 'touch me again and I'll drown you'-"

"Jesse Swanson!" Beca snapped. "Language!"

(When Beca was pregnant she had introduced a swear jar for their family, making everyone who said a curse word or something off her 'banned list'- because she had made a list- place a dollar in the jar. She was the worst offender because swear words were just part of her everyday conversation, and had struggled the most. She had almost given up on it, and swore regularly in front of their innocent, year old daughter, but it didn't mean she liked others doing it. And she had promised to curb the habit before Molly picked up on any of it.)

(Jesse would believe it when he heard it, not that he'd ever tell that to his wife.)

"Yes dear", he said loyally.

* * *

When Beca heard the doorbell, she braced herself for the worst.

But apparently they had gone above and beyond her expectations.

Swinging open the door, she found a walking bunch of helium balloons in her doorway (Cynthia Rose in disguise), as the others followed her in with gift bags and wrapped parcels.

"What the hell is all this?" Beca said, as calmly as she could manage, as they traipsed into her house.

(It was worse than Christmas. And Beca didn't even think that was possible.)

"Where is the birthday girl?" Chloe wanted to know, ignoring Beca like she did so often. "Beca, where are you hiding my goddaughter?"

"I still can't believe Chloe got to be her godmother, she isn't even the fun aunt!" Fat Amy protested. "Where are you hiding her, Shawshank?"

"I was in that holding cell for less than an hour, we have to find a new nickname", Beca glared (because no matter how many times Beca had pointed that out, Amy ignored her. And Jesse found the whole thing hilarious, and it was times like that Beca wanted to know why she married him).

"Look who's awake!" Jesse called brightly from the top of the stairs, carrying Molly down the carpet. "Oh, hey guys!"

Stacie rushed forward and plucked the sleepy little girl from her father's arms, smothering her in kisses. "Happy birthday Molly!"

"Happy birthday!"

"Look what we got you!"

"Happy birthday!"

"I can't believe she's one", Aubrey remarked, grinning at the baby, and Beca nodded.

"I know!"

(Beca had never wanted to be the person who said 'time goes by so fast' because that made her sound so much like a mum, but it was true. And she was a mum, so she could get away with it.)

"Let's do presents!" Donald called, and Jesse was quick to agree.

"Bec, get the camera".

While Beca ran off to get the camera, Jesse sat down in the middle of the living room floor, as piles of presents were presented to her daughter.

"Do you think you went a bit over the top?" he asked carefully, and Cynthia Rose shook her head.

"No, not for that kid!" she objected.

Once Beca returned with the camera (Chloe taking it, being the unofficial photographer for their unofficial family), she plopped down beside her husband and daughter, grinning.

"Who's this from?" Beca wanted to know, holding up a large square box.

"Me", Aubrey called, and Molly crawled over to her beloved Aunt Aubrey, moving into her lap.

Jesse, like the child he was, tore open the package (a large collection of books, with little stuffed toys to match the characters), while Beca opened the card (because she never said anything but she loved the cards the best, because she was ridiculously sentimental and hated herself for it).

After unwrapping a selection of toys (Benji, Donald, Stacie and Cynthia Rose), clothes (Fat Amy and Chloe), books (Aubrey), dolls (also Chloe- and Lily, who's present creeped both Beca and Jesse out and in a silent conversation, they vowed to hide it from their daughter), and a plastic tea set (Fat Amy), Jesse got a garbage bag for the piles of wrapping paper (despite his daughter loving that more than her actual presents) and Beca carried Molly into the kitchen for cake.

"Aw yeah, party food!" Fat Amy said brightly, moving towards the chips and dip.

"Amy, focus!" Aubrey scolded (reminding each girl scarily of Bellas practice- Cynthia Rose visibly shuddering).

"Hey Bec!" Jesse came running, with the laptop in his hands. "Okay, we're all here!"

"Hey Mrs Swanson!" Chloe said brightly.

"Hi, Chloe sweetheart- oh my God, there she is!" Jesse's mother cooed at the sight of her granddaughter. "Happy birthday Molly! Grandpa and I are sorry we couldn't be there, sweetie".

Molly waved at the people on the screen, kicking her feet impatiently (because she saw cake and she loved cake).

"Jess, get the lights", Beca called, as she brought the teddy bear shaped cake towards the table.

"That's an awesome cake", Stacie said appreciatively.

As Beca lit the single candle, Jesse flicked off the kitchen lights, and they began to sing.

"Happy birthday to you!" they sang, in true aca pella form. "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Molly, happy birthday to you!"

With her parents' help, Molly blew out the candle and her family cheered, Molly beaming cheekily at them.

Jesse's parents whooped from the other end of the webcam, clapping hard for their granddaughter.

"We'll call you later tonight, alright?" Jesse promised, bidding his parents farewell in order to cut the cake.

Cutting thick slices, he handed htem out on the dessert plates they had (because Beca and Jesse were such a couple they had dessert plates), placing a large slice in front of Molly.

"Look at her eyes!" Lily whispered, and Beca had to laugh.

Molly's eyes were wide and slightly psychotic (not that she'd ever call her baby psychotic) as she took in the hunk of cake on her own plate, before diving in with both hands.

"Aw", Fat Amy cooed through a mouthful of cake.

They were silent for a few moments, indulging in the rich chocolate cake, before Jesse broke their silence.

"Look at the time", Jesse said suddenly, and everyone turned to the big kitchen clock. "This time last year Molly was born".

Beca grinned, running her hand through Molly's curls, trying to dislodge the cake crumbs (because Molly was enthusiastic about cake). "What a year".

"Aw, Beca!" Chloe laughed, wrapping an arm around the brunette and kissing the top of her head.

It had been a whirlwind of a year, but Beca wouldn't change it for a thing. She wouldn't swap the long, sleepless nights or the days where she had just sat there and cried from pure sleep deprivation for anything, because she had a perfect daughter.

"Happy birthday Molly", Aubrey said simply, reaching out to take the officially one year old's hand. Molly grinned at them, wrapping her arms around her mother's neck.


	19. Sleep

**Thank you for all your reviews- but I'm still conflicted! So, Molly Swanson. Big sister or only child? What's the verdict?**

* * *

Beca Swanson loved sleep. She always had, and she probably always would. She was the girl who would put her headphones on and rest her head on the pillow, and wake up that afternoon disorientated because she had just taken a three hour nap. More than once, her father had barged into her dorm room, ripped off her blankets and demand to know why she wasn't in her intro to philosophy class (Beca had blinked up at him, like she had no recollection where she was, as her sleep faded away).

So when she was pregnant and people told her 'get as much sleep as you can', she took them up on the offer. She slept during the day and she slept the whole night. To Beca Swanson, sleep equalled life.

(She clocked her love of sleep right up there, right underneath her husband and her music.)

So when little Molly Claire screeched her way into the world, Beca knew she'd be getting a little less sleep than she was used to.

But no one told her exactly how little sleep she'd be getting.

Molly was alert. She had been alert from the moment she first opened her eyes. Beca was so proud, that at only a few hours old, her daughter could hold eye contact with the person holding her (and that first day, it had mainly been her mother. and Chloe and Fat Amy, who Beca was convinced had plotted a way to smuggle he rout of the hospital).

But she was alert during the wrong times.

Beca was content if she wanted to be awake while she was in the swing in their living room (a present from Beca's father and Sheila). She was happy if Molly wanted be awake while Jesse put on one of his many DVDs (because he intended to moviecate their daughter young, because God forbid she turn out like her mother).

She was not happy if Molly wanted to be awake between the hours of one a.m and six a.m (the hours that Beca was convinced should have never been created by God). Between those hours was Beca's precious sleep time, but Molly was not having it.

So after a week of being home from the hospital and Molly not sleeping in the hours that were dark, Beca was beyond past it.

(She was tired that first night in the hospital, if she was honest.)

"Beca?" Jesse said carefully, coming into the living room with Molly resting in his arms. "Bec?"

His wife was lying face down on the lounge, her left arm dangling off the edge, completely asleep.

"You broke Mummy", Jesse chuckled to their daughter. "Mama needs her sleep, Molly, otherwise she gets grumpy".

(Jesse would have never said that if Beca were awake. She was sensitive about her overtired state, and something like that could have very well gotten him locked out of the house. She had walked into Bellas practice during her freshman year after only an hour of sleep the night before, and Chloe had pinned her expression that morning as being the same as if she had walked into the room holding a sign that said 'I'm emotionally damaged right now'.)

They had tried their hardest to get Molly into a routine- but with the Bellas and the Trebles making unexpected visits (they had heard Donald's car the day before and Jesse had literally had to sprint around the house, pulling down the blinds and turning off the lights to give the illusion no one was home. it had all gone well until Donald had called 'Jesse' and he had, brainlessly in Beca's words, shouted 'no one's home'), it had proved difficult. But they were trying, and they were new parents.

* * *

"She's in bed, asleep", Jesse told his wife, as he came into their bedroom. Beca's eyes were droopy, as she looked at her husband. "Time for bed, Bec".

She curled into his side, yawning hugely. "I love her so much, but I wish she knew how to sleep".

Beca had overheard her mother saying to a friend of hers when she was younger than no matter how much a child tested your patience, they would then do something that made it all worthwhile. Beca kept that in her mind, as she drifted off to sleep, Jesse's arm around her.

A shrill cry broke Beca from her sleep, as she blinked blindly, before groaning.

"Jess", she mumbled. "Go and get the baby".

"She's hungry". Jesse didn't move (he didn't even open his eyes, to her disgust). "She needs you".

"Go and feed her", she murmured, knowing exactly what she had said and exactly how little sense it made.

"Sure, let me borrow your boobs and I'll be on my way", he said sarcastically, squeezing his eyes shut even tighter.

(Clearly, she was rubbing off on him.)

Groaning and yawning, she shuffled down the hallway into their daughter's room, flicking on the soft lamp and scooping her out of the bassinet. "hey Molly", she murmured. "I know you're hungry, but baby girl, you've got to sleep. Mummy loves sleep, Daddy loves sleep… we think you should like sleep too". Settling into the chair, she fiddled with her pyjamas top before Molly latched on, and Beca looked down at her sweet baby.

She would never get tired of her face. Her soft cheeks, her downy hair the same colour as her own, eyes that had started the same colour as her own, but were gradually getting darker (Beca was beyond ecstatic that Molly was getting her father's eyes, because she loved Jesse's eyes most of all), her perfect pink lips. It didn't matter how tired she was, getting up to that sweet face made it all worth it.

(Which was what she planned on telling herself in the weeks to come, where she would be beyond exhausted and where lifting a spoon to her mouth would be too difficult.)

Once Molly was done nursing, Beca shifted her slightly in her arms, doing up her pyjamas top. As Molly settled back against her chest (and Beca was too comfortable to move her), she gave her mother the smallest smiles, the first proper smile she had given.

"Oh my God", Beca whispered. She wanted to shout from the rooftops and shriek at Jesse to get out of bed to see it, but she had shouted at Jesse enough during the last ten months (she had been shouting at Jesse since their freshman year at Barden, if she was completely honest, but her screaming had heightened during her pregnancy). She was content to sit there with her smiling daughter, not caring how sleep deprived she was.

Because her mother had been right. Sometimes, there is something that made it all worth it.


	20. Positive

**You asked, I delivered ;) leave me a review, please!**

* * *

Beca frowned slightly at the object in her hand, honestly not sure what she was feeling at that moment.

She had only ever been late once in her entire life, and the result of that was her beautiful twenty month old daughter.

So when she realised that she was a few days late, she thought she had better take a pregnancy test, just in case.

She had told Jesse (screamed at him, rather) that Molly was going to be an only child, end of story, she didn't care how many he wanted, if he was up to carrying them for nine months each, he could go for it. Her womb was off limits to him.

(They weren't her exact words- if she remembered correctly, and the memory was hazy, she had screeched 'touch me again and I'll drown you, you bastard' or something of the sort, in the delivery room as she brought their daughter into the world.)

But being a mother was the most rewarding job in the world. The most terrifying and definitely the hardest, but it was the most rewarding. Her heart sang every time Molly smiled, or called her name, or sat down to tell her a story. Every time Molly laughed, Beca thought her heart would break from joy. And every time Molly cried, Beca had to hold back tears of her own, knowing that her baby was hurting.

Beca Mitchell had never imagined herself as a mum, but Beca Swanson had.

(It was inevitable, as Jesse had said three million times before Molly was born. And at least five million after.)

But lately, Jesse had been talking about making Molly a big sister.

(Beca had yet to agree, but Jesse was wearing her down. Not that she'd ever admit it.)

Glancing at the clock in the bedroom, she looked down at the pregnancy test on the bench.

Positive.

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

(Stupid Jesse being so damn irresistible. Stupid Chloe for insisting she take Molly off their hands so they could have a night to themselves. But mostly stupid Jesse.)

But she wasn't able to wipe the grin off her face.

* * *

"Honey, I'm home!" Jesse called cheesily (Beca complained when he did it, but he knew she didn't mean it. She didn't mean a lot of things she said).

"We're in the kitchen!" Beca called back.

"Daddy!" Molly called excitedly, and Jesse tossed his backpack aside (because he was a fully grown man who still carried a backpack to work, Beca teased him daily about it), advancing into the kitchen. Molly was sitting on the bench while Beca sliced up vegetables to put in the steamer, watching their daughter carefully.

"Hey Bec!" he leant over and pecked a kiss to her cheek, before greeting Molly with a hug, lifting her off the bench. "How are my favourite girls?"

Straight away, he saw something different in Beca. Her grin was a little bigger, her eyes were a little brighter- her whole face looked brighter.

"Hey, something good happened". He smiled at her, shifting Molly to his hip. "What's up, Bec? Did you get some good news or something?"

"Yeah, I did, actually". Her eyes sparkled, and Jesse frowned.

"Care to share what the news was?"

"I took a pregnancy test today".

(A she had expected, Jesse's eyes grew as wide as saucers and Beca's arms flew out to prevent her baby crashing to the kitchen tiles.)

"Jess, it was positive. I'm going to have a baby; you're going to be a father again". She set Molly on the kitchen floor, waiting for her husband's reaction.

"Positive?" Jesse's eyes widened even more (if possible), and his smile grew ear to ear. "Bec!" he smashed his lips against hers in a passionate kiss, swinging her around and making her squeal girlishly. Molly laughed hysterically, latching onto her father's leg.

"Daddy, me!" she called up to him, and Jesse set Beca down before scooping Molly up.

"Are you serious?"

"Dixie Chick serious". Beca nodded, grinning as Jesse laughed.

(Knowing how much Aubrey hated the two of them making fun of her only gave them more of a reason to continue to use her sayings.)

"We're having a baby!" spinning Molly, Jesse grabbed Beca again, making both girls laugh. "I can't believe it… oh my God, Beca!"

Jesse grinned, setting Molly down and wrapping his arms around Beca. "I can't believe it; I'm going to be a daddy again!"

"You're going to be a daddy again", she confirmed, nodding.

"You're going to be a mummy again!"

"I'm going to be a mummy again". She nodded.

"Molly's gonna be a big sister!" he tickled his daughter's chubby tummy, making her giggle.

"Sissy!" Molly enthused (it always astounded her parents at how quickly she could catch onto conversation).

"We're going to have a baby!" he shrieked, throwing his fist into the air in a perfect imitation of Judd Nelson, making both Molly and Beca scream with laughter.

That night, all three Swansons fell asleep in the same bed, Molly squeezed between her parents. Jesse had one arm around his daughter, keeping her safe, placing his other hand on Beca's flat tummy (she gave up batting his hand away after his cold fingers touched the skin of her tummy after twelve times), where she was growing a miracle.


	21. Easter

"This is seriously gonna be the best day ever", Jesse declared, as he strategically set mini Easter eggs down the hallway, a metre apart.

"Jess, she's going to be eating chocolate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, is this really necessary?" Beca objected.

"The Easter Bunny is coming, Beca", Jesse reminded her. "Also, Aunt Fat Amy. Molly' gonna be high as a kite on sugar".

"I understand this, Jesse, that's why I don't think it's entirely necessary to fill her up on chocolate before breakfast".

"Bec, we're having chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast", he reminded her. "You sound like Aubrey, just chill".

"Take that back", she growled, and Jesse took a step back at his angry, hormonal wife.

(When Beca was pregnant, her hormones raged easily ten times worse than they did on a regular day. Jesse had found himself treading on eggshells when she was pregnant with Molly, and with baby number two she was just as bad. The only person who didn't make Beca snap or cry was Molly, and Jesse was incredibly glad.)

"It's alright, I'm not going to hit you or anything", she said in amusement, as Jesse visibly stepped back. "Come on, I'm tired. Let's go to bed".

Checking on Molly once more, Jesse made sure the eggs would be in clear view of their twenty two month old daughter before wrapping his arm around Beca, leading her towards their bed.

"Jess?"

"Yeah Bec?" he wanted to know, as he slipped under the covers.

She leaned over to peck a kiss to his lips. "I love you".

"I love you more". He grinned, wrapping an arm around her and kissing the top of her head.

* * *

"Good morning beautiful", Jesse whispered, rolling over to find Beca lying on her side. "You alright? You're looking a bit pale there".

"I just feel a bit… queasy". She grimaced (her morning sickness had been horrible with Molly- hanging over the toilet bowl for at least an hour every morning, heaving and gagging and retching- but with baby number two, she was just uncomfortably nauseous).

"Do you think Molly's awake yet?"

"If she's not she'll be up in a few minutes". Beca glanced towards the clock, grinning a little (Molly Claire was like clockwork, they could time it perfectly). As if on cue, they heard a small thump from the hallway, as their daughter's feet hit her bedroom floor.

"Wait for it… wait for it…" Jesse held his breath in anticipation, and Molly let out a squeal.

"Mummy", she called excitedly, and Jesse heard her pick up the chocolate eggs. Moments later, she appeared in their bedroom, a grin a mile wide on her face and making her look just like her father.

"Hey there baby girl, what have you got?" Jesse wanted to know, patting the space between them.

"Choc-lit!" Molly giggled, throwing her handful of mini eggs onto the bed before pulling herself up. "Daddy, choc-lit?"

"Who brought them for you, baby?" Beca wanted to know, grinning at her daughter's messy bed hair and trying her best to pat it down.

"Bunny". She nodded seriously, her little fingers doing their best to unwrap the chocolate egg. "Daddy, help?"

"Daddy will help", Jesse agreed, taking the egg from her, unwrapping it, and popping it into her mouth.

(Beca wished she had had her phone to capture the look on her baby girl's face. It was a mix of outrage and hysterical sadness, and Jesse had to laugh.)

"Sorry, Molly", he said, biting back a chuckle, as he unwrapped an egg for her. She shoved it into her mouth, glaring at her father, as she curled into her mother's side. Beca grinned, squeezing her tight.

"Is it nice, Molly?" she questioned, and Molly nodded enthusiastically.

"Yep!"

"Hey, how about we go downstairs and have some breakfast before we eat any more chocolate?" Beca suggested, and Molly frowned.

"No Mummy".

"Yeah, come on Molly!" Jesse swung his legs off the edge of the bed, before scooping her up and plopping her onto his shoulders and making her squeal. Beca followed at a slower pace, as her husband and daughter galloped down the stairs.

Jesse plopped Molly down on the bench, as Beca lifted herself onto the stool at the breakfast bar (with great difficultly, because the stool came up to her hips- she hoped to God that Molly didn't inherit her height). Getting out all the necessary ingredients for chocolate chip pancakes (Molly and Beca's favourite), he began to chat.

"This is gonna be the best day ever", Jesse told Beca, as he cracked an egg into a mixing bowl. "I mean, it really is. Its Easter, we get to eat chocolate all day and actually have a reason to, we're telling everyone that you're knocked up-"

"Jesse, I swear to freaking God, if you tell them just like that-"

"Calm yourself, I won't". He grinned, his eyes sparkling, and she sighed heavily, shaking her head.

While Jesse cooked the pancakes, Beca retreated up the stairs to have a quick shower and make herself look presentable for when their friends arrived (Beca wasn't one to make a fuss when the Bellas and the Trebles came over, they had seen her at her best and her worst- although when Molly was a newborns she had sent around a mass text message to all their friends, something along the lines of 'call before you come over as I have a boob hanging out'. But she knew her face was pale, if not tinged green, and she needed to fix that). Changing into jeans and a loose shirt (she wasn't showing in the slightest, but if anyone was going to notice the changes in her body it was Chloe Beale), she moved into Molly's room to get an outfit for the day.

She broke into a grin when she saw it- a pink t-shirt, with the words 'big sister' in sparkly silver font. Jesse had come across it whilst shopping, and Beca had been so excited she had teared up. grabbing the shirt, Molly's blue jeans, stripy socks and sneakers that lit up (Stacie had found them and when she showed them to the little girl, Molly had been so excited she attempted to leap out of her highchair), she moved back downstairs, where she smelt chocolate chip pancakes.

"Some for Molly, and some for Mummy", Jesse said proudly, presenting his two favourite girls with plates and cutlery. Beca moved to the fridge to get out the bottle of milk, before pouring some into a cup for their daughter. "hey Bec, I'm going to go and get dressed and then go and check something in the backyard, alright?"

"Okay", Beca agreed, knowing that Jesse still had to hide the Easter eggs from the Easter bunny. So while Jesse disappeared, Beca climbed up to sit beside her daughter, grinning at Molly's messy face.

"Love choc-lit, Mummy", she said seriously, and Beca laughed.

"I know you do!" she wiped a smear of melted chocolate from her cheek, making Molly giggle. "And I love you".

"Love you Mummy".

* * *

"Happy Easter!"

Aubrey was the first one they saw when they opened the door, and Molly squealed and lunged for her.

"Bee!" she squealed.

Molly had to laugh, as Aubrey held out her arms to catch the tiny brunette.

"Hey, mini earspike!" Fat Amy cooed, and Molly giggled.

(Jesse felt Beca tense beside him- he knew exactly how much she hated being called 'earspike'- and squeezed her hand, willing her not to blow up at that moment.)

"Hey Bec!" Chloe pushed past the rest, kissing Beca's cheek. "You're looking happy!"

(Chloe Beale, the one to notice the tiny details. Beca had to give it to her, the girl had talent.)

"Did the Easter Bunny come, Molly?" Benji wanted to know, as the little girl reached out for him.

"Bunny come, Unca Benny! Come, Lily!"

Laughing, she squirmed down, trying to take Lily and Cynthia Rose and Stacie and Donald's hands all at once. In the end she just called for them, corralling her aunts and uncles into the yard to assist her in finding her chocolate (Molly Claire wasn't a silly little girl. And her father had given her a very detailed description on the workings of the Easter Bunny).

* * *

They spent most of the day in the sun, relishing in the chocolate that Jesse had hidden for Molly (she was like a sniffer dog, Jesse had chuckled, and Beca had to agree. When it came to chocolate, Molly knew it all). Beca had her camera and her phone out at all times, alternating between the two, taking photos and videos to send to their parents.

"She's so cute", Cynthia Rose chuckled, as Stacie and Molly jumped on the trampoline together, working off the sugar they had consumed (because Stacie was just as big of a kid as Molly, it turned out.).

"Down, please?" Beca heard Molly say to Stacie, as she fell to her knees. Crawling to the edge of the trampoline, Stacie helped Molly down, before swinging her long legs off the trampoline.

"Mummy", Molly called, picking up her shoes.

"What's wrong, baby?" Beca wanted to know.

"Mummy, hot", Molly said emphatically, running towards her mother with a rim of chocolate around her mouth (Beca had to note that Fat Amy looked almost the same, and that photos she had taken would come back to haunt the Australian for years to come). Beca hoisted her into her lap, before unzipping her jacket.

"Hey Molls, have you shown Aunt Chloe your new shirt?" Jesse said brightly, as Beca gently tugged her arms out of the pink jacket.

"No".

"Go and show Aunt Chloe your new shirt, tell her how pretty it is!" Jesse gave Molly a gentle push, and Molly broke into a grin.

"Look, new!" Molly slid off her mother's lap, dancing towards Chloe with a grin on her face. "Pretty. Pink".

"Ooh, it is pretty and pink", Chloe cooed, and Molly leapt onto her lap. Spreading her arms wide, she grinned on her aunt, knowing exactly what the words on her shirt said.

"Big sister", Chloe read, and she almost dropped the little girl. letting out a squeal, Molly slipped off her godmother's lap, as Chloe's eyes grew wider and wider. "Beca- oh my God- big sister?"

"You're pregnant?" Aubrey voiced what all of them were thinking.

Stacie summed it up best. "Holy shit!"

"Stacie!" Beca bellowed, and Jesse grabbed their daughter, wrapping his arms around her ears.

"You're pregnant, Bec?" Cynthia Rose said, and Beca nodded.

"Twelve weeks today, actually".

"Congratulations!" Benji said sincerely, and Beca leaned over to give him a quick hug.

"Thanks Benji".

"You're pregnant!" Fat Amy shrieked. "Now this is a perfect time to discuss names, all in favour of earspike and the Treble calling the baby Amy? Aye? There we go, it's settled". She all but lifted Beca off the ground in a bone crushing hug, making Beca holler.

"I don't think that's too good for the baby", Benji said uneasily, and Fat Amy all but dropped her.

"Hands in!"

(When Aubrey Posen spoke, they listened.)

"To Beca and Jesse!"

"To Beca and Jesse!"

Beca just laughed, lifting Molly to her hip and accepting Chloe's hug of congratulations ("I knew there was something different about you!"), wondering how on earth her life turned out the way it did. But it had, and she wouldn't change a thing.


	22. Homecoming

"Is everyone here?" Fat Amy wanted to know, looking around the room. "Aubrey, where's Michael?"

"Michael couldn't make it today, he sends love and apologies", Aubrey said, taking in the sight. The coffee table was laden with food (Fat Amy had made a decent sized dent in the chips), the camera was ready, and streamers decorated the walls.

"Okay, listen up", Chloe said, coming into the room with a roll of paper and a handful of noisemakers in one hand, and Molly in the other. "Here's the plan. When Jesse and Beca come home and walk through the front door, Donald and Benji are going to hold the banner, Stacie and Lily are going to blow the noisemakers and Molly, sweetie, you're going to give Mummy the balloons, and then we're going to sing 'welcome home Zachary' to the tune of the rock classic 'Our House'".

"Why does Stacie get to blow the noisemaker?" Fat Amy demanded.

"If Lily and Stacie get noisemakers, I want a noisemaker too!" Donald protested.

"Why's Molly the only one giving them balloons?" Lily frowned.

"We should all give them a balloon", Chloe's partner Tom said.

"Why is Chloe in charge?" Aubrey said, and they all turned their heads towards the redhead, making Tom snicker.

(The blonde loved to be in charge, and just couldn't understand how Chloe had gotten the job. It gave her control, and control was what she needed. But she was working on it. They all knew it.)

"Yeah, Chloe, why are you in charge?" Fat Amy raised an eyebrow at her and Chloe frowned.

(It was not going the way she wanted it to.)

"This is tradition! This is what we always do whenever someone brings a baby home! We did it for Molly!"

(No one was brave enough to point out to Chloe that Molly was the only baby that anyone in their family had brought home.)

"Balloons!" Molly giggled and Chloe set her down. Padding towards her beloved Aunt Stacie, she hauled herself up onto the couch, reaching for a cookie. "Where's Mummy? Where's Daddy?"

"What about your baby brother?" Cynthia rose checked, because she doubted Beca and Jesse would be pleased if Molly forgot the newest member of their family.

"Where's Zacky?"

"They'll be home soon, sweetie", Aubrey told her, and Molly shrugged, happy with that answer.

(Molly missed her parents and having only seen them once in the four days it had been since Zachary's dramatic birth was taking a toll on her. She had attached herself to Chloe's side, unwilling to leave the redhead for more than a few minutes.)

"Aunt Bee", Molly said, slipping off the couch with her balloons in one hand and the cookie in the other. "When's soon?"

(Aubrey loved that even though Molly could quite clearly say 'Aunt Aubrey', she still called her 'Bee'.)

"You miss Mummy and Daddy, Molly?" Cynthia Rose said, and Molly nodded.

"It's been forever!" she said dramatically.

(The two and a half year old had picked up on Chloe's dramatics, apparently.)

"Alright!" Chloe clapped her hands. "Are we all clear on the plan?"

"I still don't see why Stacie and Lily get to blow the noisemakers".

"Did anyone even ask if Benji and Donald wanted to hold the sign?"

"Yeah, maybe Tom wants to hold the sign!"

"Why do you get to be in charge, anyway?"

"When are they meant to be home?"

"Why 'Our House'? can't we pick another song?"

"Now can we pick another song when they're going to be home so soon?" Chloe snapped, losing her patience a little at the family who were not following her plans at all. "Benji and Donald are gonna hold the sign, Stacie and Lily are going to blow the noisemaker, Molly's gonna give her parents the balloons and we're all gonna sing!"

"I don't want to hold the sign", Donald said, and Chloe threw up her arms.

"Fine- Tom, take the sign".

"I don't want to", Tom said, sounding a little freaked out at his girlfriend's tone.

"Donald, just hold the stupid banner and join in this very touching family celebration!" Aubrey snapped and Donald picked it up quickly.

(They all loved Aubrey dearly, but she had never outgrown her tendency to hurl when things got too stressful. That was shown in full force in the waiting room in the hospital four days earlier, as she had rushed through the doors with Molly in tow.)

"Can I blow the noisemaker?" Benji wanted to know.

"No, that's my job", Stacie interjected.

"People, they're gonna be walking through that front door any moment now!" Chloe jabbed her finger towards the front door (sounding too much like her best friend, she'd admit it).

That was all it took for the bickering to start again, and Chloe let out a frustrated hiss of air.

"Um… hello?" Jesse called over the noise and they whirled around to find Beca and Jesse (holding the baby in the car seat) standing in the doorway, clearly having snuck in the back door.

And the sight of the other three Swansons was enough to make them forget their roles.

"Mummy!" Molly shrieked, running towards them, dragging her balloons.

"Hey baby, I missed you!" Beca said, as Molly threw her arms around her legs.

"Welcome home!" Benji and Donald hurried to unroll the banner, and Stacie blew the noisemaker in her hand.

"The next time someone has a kid this is gonna be so much better", Chloe vowed, before moving towards the carrier to see the baby. "Welcome home, Zachary!"

"Welcome home, Zac", Jesse said quietly, lifting the tiny infant out of his seat and cradling him gently. "Time to meet the family, properly. We're home now, little buddy".

Beca took a seat on the lounge, and Molly scampered up to sit beside her.

"You're home now, Mummy", Molly told her seriously, wrapping her arms gingerly around her mother's waist (because her daddy had explained to her about the special owie on her mummy's tummy, and she didn't like owies).

"We're all home now, Molly", Beca said gently, wincing slightly as she leant to the side to kiss her daughter's head. "Mummy and Daddy and Zac and Molly. A family".

"Want to hold your baby brother, Molly?" Jesse wanted to know and Molly nodded eagerly, holding out her arms excitedly.

And Chloe snapped a photo just as Molly was looking into Zac's big blue eyes (the same shade as her own, she had said delightedly), a look of total adoration on her face.

"What do you think of your new baby brother, Molly?" Tom wanted to know, and Lily broke into a grin at Molly's answer.

"Loves him!" she declared, leaning down to kiss his forehead gently.


	23. Tired

Zachary Thomas Swanson was perfect.

He had ten little fingers and ten little toes and the cutest button nose. He was chubby and soft and smelt like milk and baby powder. He was gaining weight and feeding just like he was supposed to.

But the little boy had one small flaw.

He didn't like to sleep.

Just like his sister at that age, Zac fought sleep, keeping his parents- and Molly- awake at night. And while Jesse and Beca (with some difficulty) could handle it, little Molly couldn't. She loved her brother for the most part, but she did not like him when he was awake.

"You tired, Molly?" Jesse said gently, as Molly came down the stairs, still rubbing her eyes.

"No", she mumbled, climbing up onto the lounge beside him. "Hi Daddy".

"Good morning baby". Jesse wrapped an arm around his daughter, kissing the top of her head.

"Where's Mummy?"

"Mummy and Zac are still sleeping, because Zac was sad last night".

Molly curled into his side, yawning. "Zacky doesn't like sleep".

"No, he doesn't", Jesse agreed, rubbing her back gently. "You know, you didn't like sleep when you were a baby, either".

She looked at him, shocked (both his children were extremely expressive- and it only heightened as they would get older, if Beca was anything to go by). "No!" she objected.

(But if Jesse remembered correctly, she had giggled hysterically when Aubrey showed her a photo of her as a baby. "That's not me!" she had giggled, sounding surprised that she had once been that small.)

"Yeah!" Jesse nodded. "You didn't like to sleep, either- you used to keep me and Mummy awake too".

"I like sleep".

"I know you do, now", he explained. "And Zacky will learn to like it, too".

"Good". She yawned again, going back to her position, leaning against her father's side.

"Hey, want to go and visit Aunt Chloe later?" he wanted to know.

(Chloe had called the day before and invited the whole Swanson family over for lunch, but Beca had told him early that morning- two a.m early- that there was no way in hell that she and Zac were going. "Feel free to take bugalug, but there is no way I can face them without sleep. I can barely face them with sleep!")

"Yeah". She nodded. "And Aunt Bee?"

"Aunt Aubrey will be there too". He smiled at her. "Come on, I was waiting for you so I had someone to eat breakfast with".

"Pancakes?"

"Just toast", he said, and she pouted. "But maybe we'll have pancakes tomorrow".

* * *

"Hey guys!" Chloe said with a grin, as Tom opened the door. "Just you two?"

"Yeah, Beca's not up to it". Jesse shook his head.

"Is everything okay?" the redhead said in concern. "Is the baby okay?"

"Oh, yeah, they're both fine", Jesse assured them (they had all been concerned to leave the new family of four at home alone since they brought home the baby, because of the dramatic arrival of the youngest member). "Zac's taking after his big sister, it appears, and he doesn't like to sleep".

"Molly slept okay?"

"Not until she was three weeks old, though. Zac's just really unsettled and it's taking a toll on Bec", he told her, stepping inside and setting Molly's backpack down in the living room. "On all of us, actually".

"Molly doesn't look too happy", Chloe said quietly, as Molly buried her head in her father's shoulder.

"Hey Molly!" Aubrey said brightly from the kitchen, before taking in the little girl properly. Her whole body looked tired- even her curls (that Beca had just scooped into a ponytail, instead of her usual pigtails or braids). "Aw, Molly, what's wrong?"

Jesse set her down, and she wandered towards the table, climbing into Lily's lap.

"Zacky not like sleep", she told them seriously. "I say 'sleep Zacky' and Daddy says 'sleep Zacky' and Mummy says 'sleep Zacky' and Zacky stay 'wake". She frowned, resting her head on Lily's chest. Stacie frowned sympathetically, and Fat Amy offered her the bowl of potato chips.

"Want a chippy, Molly?"

Molly just shook her head. "No fanks".

"She's so like Beca", Aubrey chuckled. "You've got a mini earspike there, Jesse".

(They all knew when Beca didn't sleep properly the night before- she would shuffle into the rehearsal space with a look Chloe had dubbed 'I'm emotionally damaged right now'. It was a mixture of 'get the hell away from me before I bite your head off' and 'don't talk to me, I might start crying uncontrollably'. Beca had said the morning before to her husband, "My chances of crying for no reason increases three hundred percent if I have a baby".)

"I totally do", he agreed. "Beca's not the happiest person to be around, either- I thought when she was little that she was bad". He motioned towards his daughter, as Michael brought the platter of cold cuts and salad to the table. "We hadn't seen anything yet".

"It's lucky he's cute", Cynthia Rose spoke up, making Benji and Donald chuckle.

"He is pretty cute", Jesse agreed with a grin, pulling out his phone to pull up the most recent photos taken of his son. "He's cute, isn't he Molly?"

Molly shrugged. "Yeah".

(she had been totally infatuated with the baby in the hospital and the day they brought him home, and was always happy to help, but unless someone else was around- because she was a protective big sister and didn't want anyone apart from her parents touching her baby- she would play around him. it was something Beca and Jesse had been grateful for, because they would rather Molly ignore her baby brother than throw a fit and demand they get rid of him- the attitude they had been worried about.)

* * *

"You look tired, Molly", Benji said gently, as Molly rubbed her eyes.

"Not tired". She shook her head.

"Are you sure?" Donald pressed. "You look really sleepy".

Jesse saw the change in his daughter before anyone else picked it up. "Drop it", he warned, as Molly rested her head on Stacie's chest. The brunette had her arms wrapped around the little girl, keeping her safe, and Molly was absently fiddling with her bracelet, unable to properly focus.

Tom didn't catch on. "Molly, you know, sweetie, if you're tired you can go and lay down in your bed", he offered (because Chloe had a pink Disney princess fold out bed in their spare room, just for when their goddaughter slept over).

Molly frowned at them, tears welling up in her eyes. "Not! Tired!" she bellowed, before bursting into tears.

Michael frowned, and Lily jumped at her wails.

"Holy crap, you broke Jesse's kid!" Fat Amy accused, and Jesse held his arms out for his daughter.

"You broke my goddaughter!" Chloe said indignantly.

"Thanks, Tom". Jesse closed his eyes for a moment, holding his daughter tight. "Shhh, it's okay. I know, you need sleep. We're all tired, aren't we?"

"Not tired", she sobbed into his chest.

"I know, I know. You're like your mummy". He rocked her gently as they watched, wide eyed, never having seen Molly react that way.

(They were so used to the happy go lucky, bubbly little girl that anything else caught them by surprise.)

"Do you want to go and lay down in your bed?" Jesse asked carefully, and Molly shook her head firmly.

"Not tired", she insisted.

"She's beyond tired", Aubrey noted. "Poor thing".

"The baby will settle", Jesse assured them, rubbing the little girl's back gently. "Molly was three weeks old when she finally got herself into a routine- Zac's not even two weeks old yet. He'll get it, just like his big sister did".

Molly rubbed her tear streaked cheeks, wrapping her arms around her father. Her eyes closed for just a moment and it took her a lot longer to open them.

"She's almost asleep", Stacie noted.

"Can I throw her on the couch, Chlo?" he wanted to know, and Chloe nodded.

"Of course", she said quickly. "Are you sure you don't want to throw her in her bed?"

"No, she's past that stage".

Chloe stood up to help him with the little girl, turning on the television and changing it to a child's program. Molly clutched her scarf in one hand, rubbing furiously at her tired eyes, focused on the television, her blue eyes glazing over.

* * *

She fell asleep only moments after Jesse set her on the lounge that afternoon, and stayed asleep when he made the transfer into her car seat to take her home.

When they arrived home Zac was napping in his swing and Beca was three quarters asleep on the couch. Jesse dropped Molly's backpack on the floor, before settling Molly into the armchair.

(His kids were so much like their mother it wasn't funny, he noted.)

"She okay?" Beca murmured, and Jesse nodded, running his fingers down her back.

"Yeah, she fell asleep at Chloe's".

"Did she chuck a fit?"

"Beloved Uncle Michael is not in her good books right now". Jesse chuckled, relaying the story for her.

They decided that they were having an early dinner that night, and both Zac and Molly were bathed and ready for bed by six thirty that night. Molly fell asleep again on the lounge in front of The Wizard of Oz (a favourite for the little girl), and Zac fell asleep in his bassinet. After checking on their kids, Beca and Jesse crashed falling into a deep sleep.

And that night, all four Swansons slept through the night, for the first time since Zac was born.


	24. Cinderella

**This one is a little different from the usual format-it's a songfic and it's set in three different stages of Molly's life. I'm not too sure how I personally feel about it- but let me know what you think! I love hearing all your opinions.**

* * *

It was clear from a very young age that Molly Swanson had inherited her mother's love for music. She could memorise lyrics like no other and tap out the rhythm to the song her mother was humming as she made dinner. She would sing along to the radio with her father, and she could be found twirling around her bedroom, dancing and singing along to her own song.

_She spins and she sways  
To whatever song plays  
Without a care in the world  
And I'm sitting here wearing  
The weight of the world on my shoulders_

"Honey, I'm home!" Jesse called with a sigh, tossing his backpack into the corner and kicking off his shoes.

"Daddy!" Molly screamed, running towards him and throwing her arms around him. "I missed you!"

Jesse hoisted the three year old into the air, making her squeal with laughter. "I missed you too baby".

"Hey Jess", Beca called from the kitchen, where she was slaving away at the stove with their younger child in his high chair. "Long day?"

"Very. And it's not over; I brought work home with me".

"I'll help after we put them to bed", Beca offered.

(The pair worked well as a team, in more ways than one. While scoring music was Jesse's passion, mixing music was Beca's.)

"Thanks baby". He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, before ticking Zac underneath his chubby chin. "How about you, buddy, have you been good for Mummy and your big sister?"

"Molly, tell Daddy where we went today".

"We went shoppin'; Daddy, and then we saw Aunt Bee". Molly nodded seriously.

"Yeah, what did Aunt Bee have to say?"

"Nothin'".

"Nothing important". Beca shrugged, before bringing the pot of pasta over to the sink. "Jess, could you grab some plates out please?"

Getting out two plates and a bowl for Molly, he set them down before getting out the tongs and a serving spoon for their dinner.

It had been a long day, but Jesse knew that the day was far from over. He had to try and finish his score (something that he had been procrastinating over for far too long and Beca had told him as much), as well as help his wife clean their kitchen and bath their two children.

_It's been a long day  
And there's still work to do  
She's pulling at me  
Saying "Dad, I need you_

"_I know where… there's Huggle Buggle Bear! And all the other toys. I think they must be fast asleep, so shhh! Don't make a noise_! _Night night_". Jesse closed the book and Molly smiled, leaning against him.

"Again, please?"

"No, no more. Once is enough", Beca objected from her seat across from them, nursing the baby. Six month old had fallen asleep nuzzled against her breast, but she knew that he was still feeding. "Time for bed, missy".

She frowned. "But Daddy!"

"But what?" he wanted to know.

"Daddy, there's gonna be a ball", she said matter of factly. "And I gotta practice my dancing!"

"Where's the ball gonna be?" he asked in amusement.

"At the castle". She rolled her eyes (looking so much like her mother), and Jesse broke into a grin.

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. And I gotta practice for when I dance with the prince!" she beamed and Jesse laughed, unable to say no to that cheeky smile. "Can you dance with me, Daddy?"

"I think I can dance for a few minutes", he agreed, glancing at the clock. It was only a few minutes past her bedtime, but a few minutes wouldn't hurt.

_There's a ball at the castle  
And I've been invited  
And I need to practice my dancing  
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"_

Molly stepped onto her father's toes as Jesse's took her hands, twirling her around the room like the goofball he was. Beca grinned, reaching over to grab her phone off the coffee table. With the baby still on her chest, she snapped photo after photo of the dancing pair, as Jesse sang to their three year old.

(That was the man she fell in love with when they were in college. The weirdo who snuck juice pouches into her backpack, the weirdo that their daughter had wrapped around her little finger. The weirdo that she had wrapped around her little finger.)

They danced and laughed and twirled and sang, Beca capturing the moment between father and daughter with the technology that was her iPhone.

"I love you, Daddy". Molly stood on her toes, stretching up to reach him, and Jesse scooped her up, squeezing her tight.

"I love you too, baby".

Bidding Beca goodnight, Jesse carried her to her bedroom, tucking her in and kissing her head.

"Daddy?"

"Yeah Molly?"

"Don't close the door all the way", she said, curling up into a ball underneath the covers. "Leave it open a bit. Just in case the monsters come".

"I checked for monsters, remember? Daddy checked for monsters and sucked up all the ghosts with the vacuum cleaner".

(And Beca had recorded the whole thing, laughing hysterically on the other side of the camera. He wouldn't live that one down in a hurry.)

"Just in case", Molly repeated, and Jesse nodded seriously.

"Just in case", he said, leaving the door ajar.

_So I will dance with Cinderella  
While she is here in my arms  
'Cause I know something the prince never knew  
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella  
I don't want to miss even one song  
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight  
And she'll be gone…_

* * *

"And he's a really nice guy-"

"What?" Jesse bellowed, catching the end of the conversation. "No no no, absolutely not!"

"What?" Molly protested.

"You're fifteen!"

"So what?" she shot back.

(Teenage Molly had Beca's attitude. It had become apparent very quickly, and was something that Jesse did not like in the slightest.)

"Jesse", Beca interjected. "Let it go".

"She's fifteen! She's still a baby!"

"She's in high school", Beca reminded him. "She's got her dress, she's going. Whether it is with this Jake guy or not, she's still going".

(Beca hated the fact that her daughter was old enough to be asked out on a date- where was the baby they had read Huggle Buggle to, night after night? But she had to face the sad reality that her baby was fifteen, even if Jesse couldn't.)

_She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed  
She wants to know if I approve of the dress  
She says, "Dad, the prom is just one week away  
And I need to practice my dancing  
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"_

* * *

"What do you think?" Molly said shyly, standing in the doorway of the living room.

Jesse's jaw dropped- because she was not a baby any more. "Oh my God", he spluttered out, and Beca slipped into his arms. "You look- you look-"

"Like a girl?" Zac offered helpfully, and Beca flicked him on the head.

"Zac", Aubrey said warningly from the doorway, standing behind her niece.

"Be nice", Beca snapped at her twelve and a half year old.

"You look beautiful", Jesse choked out.

"Thanks Daddy".

(despite being fifteen and all grown up, she was still a daddy's girl. she would always go running to her daddy when something didn't go right, because he could fix it. He had hung the stars up in the sky just for her, and she still believed that.)

"Want to dance with me?" she wanted to know, stepping into the room properly.

"You're still my baby", he whispered.

"Even when I'm eighty I'll be your baby". She grinned at him and Jesse kissed the top of her head (being careful not to disrupt her curls, because Aubrey would have him beheaded).

_So I will dance with Cinderella  
While she is here in my arms  
'Cause I know something the prince never knew  
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella  
I don't want to miss even one song  
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight  
And she'll be gone  
She will be gone_

* * *

"What's the big news?" Fat Amy strolled into the Swanson kitchen, her hand buried in a bag of microwave popcorn.

Zac shrugged, from where he was popping his own bag of popcorn. "Dunno, Molly just called and said she was coming home, I'm betting Aunt Stacie that she's knocked up".

"Twenty bucks", Stacie said with a nod. "I don't think she is though, bud, so be ready to hand over your pocket money".

"I haven't got pocket money in like ten years".

"For the last time, Zachary, your sister is not pregnant", Jesse said with a sigh, coming into the room. "Jesus, you're all here!"

"Of course we're here", Chloe said in confusion. "Molly texted us and said 'big news, lunch at ours'. So we're here".

"We're here", Aubrey confirmed with a nod, and Beca bustled into the room.

"She's here, I just heard a car!"

Beca Swanson was that parent.

"Hey guys!" Molly breezed into the room, tossing her handbag and keys onto the bench. "Guess what?" she let out a squeal.

"You're knocked up?" Zac said quickly.

(Jesse reached out to smack him upside the head, making Zac squeak in surprise.)

"What? No! Why do you always assume someone's pregnant when they say 'guess what?' you know, don't even answer that". She frowned, unable to hold the expression for more than a moment, as her excitement burst through. "I'm getting married!"

She waved her hand around and Chloe let out an excited scream, wrapping her goddaughter in a hug. "Oh my God, congratulations!"

The uproar was immediate- but Jesse stood back.

After a few minutes of jumping around with her aunts, uncles, cousins and mother, Molly stepped back.

"Hey. What's wrong?" she asked her father, looking worried.

"Nothing", he assured her. "I just… I just can't believe it. He's a lucky guy, Molls".

"Dad?"

"What?"

"You'll always be my number one man, you know that, right?"

He wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. "I know".

"And I'm gonna need some help with my dancing. We've got to dance, you know that?"

Jesse's eyes sparkled. "I think I can handle that. Can you keep up with your old dad?"

"I think so". She laughed, squeezing him tight.

_Well, she came home today with a ring on her hand  
Just glowing and telling us all they had planned  
She says, "Dad, the wedding's still six months away  
But I need to practice my dancing  
Oh, please, Daddy, please?"_

* * *

"Hey, why aren't you in bed?" Beca wanted to know, as Molly wandered down the stairs.

"Couldn't sleep". She shrugged, flicking on the kettle. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"I'm too wired to sleep". Beca grinned, and Molly rested her head on her mother's shoulder. "But seriously, Molls, you need your sleep to make us all cry tomorrow". She grinned, her eyes dancing. "I've got a bet going with Chloe that Jesse's going to be the first to cry".

"Really? Zac and I were betting that Aunt Amy would be the first to cry. Aunt Amy and then Dad, we thought". Molly chuckled, reaching up into the cupboard to pull down the mugs. "Want a cup of tea?"

"No thanks babe. Dad might, though". Beca motioned to the window, where Jesse was sitting on the back porch, twiddling his thumbs aimlessly. "You might want to go out and rescue your poor old dad; he's having a bit of a hard time".

Molly grabbed another mug- the mug she had painted and presented to her father for Father's Day when she was just four years old- dropping a teabag into both. "I'm going to go out and see Dad".

"After that, straight to bed, alright?"

"Yes Mummy". Molly grinned, like she was three years old again (only, Beca wouldn't hesitate to remind her, she wasn't nearly as cooperative when she was three). "I love you".

"I love you more, Molly".

Pouring the hot water into the mugs and waiting for the teabags to seep, she plucked them out and carried the mugs out into the backyard, blowing her mother a kiss. She plopped down on the chair beside her father, offering him the mug.

"Thanks Molls". Jesse smiled at her and Molly sat cross legged, wrapping her hands around the mug. "You excited about tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Too excited to sleep".

"That's what I was like the night before I married Mum", he told her with a grin (despite how much she had complained about her parents' soppiness, she had loved it when they had told their stories. Her badass mother serenading her father in their freshman year of college, for Jesse to return the favour to a blushing Beca the year after. And the way he serenated her with Adam Sandler's song the day he proposed was just the icing on the cake- they were softies, through and through, and she loved it.)

"Did you sleep at all?"

"I did, a bit. I watched The Breakfast Club and that calmed me down".

"You're such a dork!"

"Hey, I'm the dork who raised you". He raised his eyebrow at her and she started to giggle. "I don't know how we got so lucky, to get a kid like you".

She rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll always be your kid", she reminded him. "Even when I'm eighty".

"Even when you're eighty", he nodded. "Hey Molls, remember when you were three and you asked me to practice your dancing, because there was a ball you'd be invited to?"

She scrunched up her forehead (reminding him so much of Beca it was insane). "Um… I don't think so".

"Mum laughed and was all like 'it's a phase from those stupid movies you make her watch'- can you believe it, calling our movies stupid? Anyway, we danced and danced and then you asked me not to close your door all the way in case the monsters came".

Molly flushed pink. "The monsters always liked my room best", she muttered.

"I always danced with you, you know?" he said conversationally, setting his mug of tea down. "I haven't danced with you in a while".

Molly knew she was going to dance with him the next day. But she wouldn't be a Swanson then. "Let's dance, Dad. We need to get in practice".

"Thought you'd never ask". Jesse held his hand out to his daughter, and Molly accepted it, grinning.

* * *

_So I will dance with Cinderella  
While she is here in my arms  
'Cause I know something the prince never knew  
Oh, I will dance with Cinderella  
I don't want to miss even one song  
'Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight  
And she'll be gone _

"Dad! Come on, time to dance!" Molly stepped towards her father, absolutely glowing.

She was the epitome of beauty, in her white wedding gown, her hair curled and pinned to the top of her head (Aubrey had done a good job). She was a mini Beca.

"You look gorgeous", Jesse said again, accepting her hand and leading her out to the dance floor. Molly wrapped her arms around her father's waist, squeezing him tight.

"Dad?"

"Yeah Molls?"

"I'm always gonna be a Swanson".

"I know. I love you".

"I love you more".

**Beca Swanson took a photo with Instagram: She'll always be a Swanson #FatherDaughterDancing #Wedding #WonTheBet #OnceASwansonAlwaysASwanson **


	25. Delivery

She was almost at the nine month mark. At eight months and three weeks pregnant with Swanson baby number two, Beca was well and truly over it. She couldn't see her feet (although she knew they were still there because they hurt), her back hurt, her boobs were swollen and she spent her day running (read: waddling) after an energetic two and a half year old. Beca wanted more than nothing to hold her baby in her arms.

Plain and simply, Beca was over being pregnant.

"When baby comin'?" Molly wanted to know, as she climbed up onto the lounge beside her (Beca ordinarily didn't encourage days of television, but it was raining and she was pregnant and if Mickey Mouse could keep Molly quiet for twenty minutes, then she'd take it).

"Soon, baby girl", Beca said tiredly, running a hand through Molly's loose curls (she was too tired that morning to fight Molly into pigtails or braids- Molly wasn't having it, and Beca didn't care). "I know, Mummy wants to meet the new baby too".

"I a big sister".

"You are a big sister". Beca kissed the top of Molly's head, relishing in what she knew would be the last few days with just her baby girl. "I love you".

"Love you Mummy". Molly leaned against her mother and Beca breathed in the gentle scent of baby shampoo and her baby girl.

"There's my favourite girls", Jesse called, coming into the room with a grin. "Hey baby, hey baby girl". He dropped kisses to the tops of their heads respectively, before pressing his hands to Beca's stomach. "How's bub treating their mama today?"

Beca put her left hand on her stomach, feeling the thunder of kicks against her inside. Just like Molly had, the baby knew its father's voice. "Good", she said tiredly. "But their mama wishes bub would hurry up and get here".

"Me too", Molly said quietly, her eyes not leaving the television screen for a moment.

"Me three", Jesse agreed, and Beca rolled his eyes at her husband's cheesiness.

* * *

"Jesse!" Beca called, gripping her stomach and shuffling down the hallway to their bedroom. "Swanson!"

"What's wrong?"

"Get your ass out of bed". She smacked him with a pillow (because why was he sleeping when he had done this to her?).

"It's midnight", he said in confusion (clearly a mistake on his behalf).

"Well I'm sorry, I'll go and give birth to your child downstairs then, will I? Jesus Christ!"

Jesse leapt out of bed, gathering up the small pile of things he had packed in Beca's fifth month of pregnancy (because he never knew when they'd need to go to the hospital- both hers and Molly's bags were packed). "You go and get in the car, I'll get Molly. No wait!" he grabbed her arm, gently guiding her towards the stairs.

She rolled her eyes. "Go and get Molly, I'll go down to the car".

"Be careful!" he shouted.

Running down the hallway with his arms full, he ripped off Molly's blanket (the chilly winter air hitting her bare feet and making her shiver in her sleep), before gently lifting her out of the bed.

"Daddy?" she mumbled.

"Shhh, its okay", he whispered, making sure to grab her Bellas scarf (because she took the tatty thing everywhere) before heading down the stairs. "We're gonna go to Aunt Aubrey's and Uncle Michael's, and you're gonna have a sleepover!"

She put her head on his shoulder, still fighting sleep. "Mmm".

He found Beca in the passenger seat, her seatbelt already on, her knee bouncing in anticipation.

"How are you?" he wanted to know, once Molly was strapped in and he was reversing the car out of their driveway.

"It's not so bad right now", she said carefully. "I called Chloe- she's meeting us there".

She was surprisingly calm. Calmer than she thought she would be. Then again, she had already done it once, and while she was terrified, she was not nearly as scared as she had been when she was in labour with Molly.

Jesse reached Aubrey and Michael's house in record time (making Beca scream the whole way, because clearly the guy didn't know the road rules), screeching to a stop outside. Unbuckling Molly and carefully lifting her out, he tossed her backpack into the car seat before lifting the whole thing out (he realised as soon as he unhooked it from the anchor point that it would have been easier to give them the seat from his car, instead of unstrapping the seat she used every single day, but what was done was done). Running up the driveway he poked the doorbell twice before proceeding to bang on the door (making Molly jolt- he felt bad for scaring his daughter, but Aubrey wasn't answering).

"Jesus Christ, I'm coming!" Aubrey bellowed from inside, and Jesse stopped his pounding. "Who the hell's coming over now?" Aubrey wanted to know. "It's midnight!"

The knocking continued as she made her way down the hallway, swinging open the door to find Jesse standing there.

(The Treblemaker was the last person she expected.)

"What the hell?" her eyebrows furrowed, as Jesse shoved Molly at her, the two and a half year old ninety five percent asleep and thoroughly confused.

"Aunt Bee", she mumbled, wrapping her arms around Aubrey's neck and sleepily resting her head on her shoulder.

"What's going on?"

"Beca's bringing your niece or nephew into the world right now", he said hurriedly, throwing Molly's backpack at Michael (who appeared just in time to catch the pink thing flung at him) before dumping Molly's car seat on the veranda. "I seem you recall you saying that you'd watch her when we went to the hospital?"

"Oh my God!"

"We should come too!" Michael turned around to pluck the car keys off the hook, and Jesse held up his hand.

"No, no", Aubrey protested, before Michael could get ahead of himself. "We'll be there first thing in the morning. Want me to call everyone?"

"Can you? Chloe knows Chloe's meeting us there and said she'd call everyone but I don't know who she's calling". Jesse shrugged, and Beca leant on the car horn.

"Swanson!" she called. "Let's get this show on the road!"

"Go, go, give me a niece or nephew!" Aubrey pushed Jesse out the door and he leant over to peck a kiss to her cheek, before kissing his daughter.

"Thanks guys! We owe you! Bye Molly, be good!"

"Good luck Beca!" Michael hollered from the doorway, and Beca waved in acknowledgement. Grinning widely, the two closed the front door, Aubrey still cradling the sleeping child in her arms.

"Let's put her to bed", Aubrey decided, and Michael picked up her little pink backpack, following Aubrey towards one of their spare rooms. The one they went into had pretty pink sheets on the double bed and a flowery doona- and while Molly generally curled up in a sleeping bag when she spent the night at their house, the bed was hers for the night. Michael pulled the blankets back and Aubrey settled the little girl onto the mattress, right in the middle to reduce the chances of her rolling off the side.

(Despite being in a 'big girl bed' for over six months, Molly Swanson was just like her father and a restless sleeper. She could fall asleep curled up against the wall, and wake up hanging onto the bed with one arm. Every night before they went to bed, Beca and Jesse would roll her back to safety, but they still kept Molly's soft bear mat from when she was a tiny baby beside the bed- padding the fall if she did tumble out. And she had, more than once.)

"She's so beautiful", Aubrey said quietly, as she pulled the blankets over the sleeping child, brushing her hair back gently.

"I want one", Michael said suddenly, and Aubrey looked at him, her blue eyes wide. "Want to have one of those?"

She nodded wordlessly, too scared to speak.

"You want to have a baby?" he checked and Aubrey wrapped her arms around him, pressing her lips to his. Michael chuckled, taking her reaction as a yes. "Not in here, Beca would kill you if she found out we made her child a cousin in the same room as her sleeping kid".

"I can take her", Aubrey almost scoffed.

"Not when she's hyped up on pregnancy hormones", he reminded her.

(Aubrey had seen Beca cry once the entire time the tiny brunette was at Barden, but when she was pregnant she cried once a day.)

* * *

"The contractions are about seventeen minutes apart", Beca told the doctor, as Jesse helped her up onto the bed. "They're not too strong yet".

"Stacie's on her way", Chloe reported, coming into the room and pressing her ear to Beca's belly. "Hey there little baby! Ready to come and meet the world? Ready to come and meet Aunt Chloe?"

(Beca swore, the way that Fat Amy and Chloe acted around her, strangers would think that it was their baby living in her womb.)

"Do you want an epidural?" the doctor asked Beca, and she shook her head firmly.

"No".

She could do it. She had gone drug free with Molly, she was determined to do the same with that baby boy or girl.

"Are you sure?" Jesse wanted to know, and Beca nodded.

"No, I don't want an epidural. I don't want to drug my baby".

* * *

"You are the worst person in the entire world", Beca hissed, squeezing Jesse's hand so tight he was about ninety percent certain she broke a bone or two. "Why did you do this to me? What did I ever do to you?"

"I'm sorry", he said sincerely (because what else could he say).

"I swear to God, Swanson, if you even touch me again-"

"Never again". He nodded.

"I don't like you", she spat. Turning to Chloe, she shot the redhead daggers (leaving Chloe to wander what she had possibly done. She had been supportive and held her hand and not made comments about whether or not Beca was sure she didn't want drugs. Beca had made it plain and clear that no drugs were to enter her system). "Chloe, it hurts!"

"I know, Bec, I'm sorry".

"You don't know!" she growled. "I don't recall you ever pushing a fucking watermelon out of your vagina, now do you? How about you try and squeeze a watermelon out of your nostril?"

They didn't know what to say.

(She felt bad for yelling at Chloe, but she didn't feel bad for yelling at Jesse. He had done this too her, essentially it was his fault she was in pain.)

* * *

Aubrey woke up to the sound of a very disorientated two and a half year old. Stumbling out of bed, she made her way down the hallway to find Molly curled in the big bed, rubbing her eyes and calling out for her parents.

"Aunt Bee?" her sleepy eyes widened in surprise.

"Hey baby", she said gently, sitting on the end of the bed. Molly climbed towards her, wrapping her arms around her neck and seeking comfort. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Where's my mummy?"

"Mummy and Daddy are at the hospital with Aunt Chloe", she told her truthfully. "That's where we're gonna go after breakfast, too- because Mummy's gonna have the baby! You're gonna be a big sister soon!"

"Big sister?" Molly yawned and Aubrey nodded enthusiastically.

"Mummy's gonna have the baby".

"Baby in Mummy's tummy", Molly reminded her (she loved to put her hands on Beca's outstretched abdomen, and feeling her baby brother or sister kick). "I play?"

"Yeah, you can play with your baby brother or sister- but not straight away. Babies need lots of sleep".

"So does Mummy". Molly nodded emphatically. "Daddy says 'Mummy likes sleep' and Mummy sleeps and then Mummy's happy!"

(Aubrey would have sold her husband to have had a video camera at that moment.)

* * *

"Why the hell is the phone ringing now?" Beca grouched, throwing her head back onto the uncomfortable hospital pillow.

At eight centimetres dilated, she didn't want the phone to be ringing. She didn't want people to be near her. She was in pain and she was tired and her boobs hurt. Everywhere hurt and Jesse thought he was helping, but he wasn't.

(And she had screamed that at him multiple times, the poor guy. She felt bad, but once again it was his baby that she was pushing out of her vagina. And Jesse had a huge head which he had clearly passed onto his children.)

"It's Aubrey", Chloe reported, letting go of Beca's hand to answer.

(Beca let her, because Aubrey was in charge of her child and if Aubrey was calling there was a chance that there was something wrong.)

"Any news?" Aubrey didn't wait for Chloe to speak, as the phone connected.

"No, there's no baby", Chloe said tiredly.

(She and Jesse were exhausted; she couldn't even imagine how Beca was feeling.)

"Okay, well, Molly just woke up, we're getting dressed and then coming to the hospital, alright? How far along is she?"

"Not far enough", Beca grouched, letting go of Jesse's hand and crossing her arms grumpily over her chest.

"I'll see you when you get here", Chloe said, before setting the phone down.

"Jesse, I'm tired", Beca told him bluntly, gripping the railing of the bed with one hand (so hard her knuckles turned white). "I'm tired and in pain and what did I ever do to you? I swear to God, Swanson-" her words were cut off as another contraction hit her and she screwed her face up in pain, biting back a curse word. "This baby has your stupid big head".

"You said that about Molly".

(He regretted it the moment he said it, with the daggers shot his way.)

"She had a big head to. Your kids take after you and your stupid big head!" she smacked him in the chest and Jesse went to pull back, but she grabbed him. "Don't you dare leave me!"

"I am never going to leave you".

And by the look in his eye, she knew he meant it.

* * *

"Finally!" Fat Amy stood up from the hospital chair, as Michael (with Molly sitting cheerfully on his shoulders) and Aubrey came into view. "Donald said I wasn't allowed to go to the vending machine again until you guys got here".

"I come?" Molly wanted to know, as Michael swung her down.

(Molly knew that if her aunt went off to the vending machine, there was a chance of her getting a packet of lollies or a chocolate to share. And Fat Amy didn't make it a secret that she bribed her niece.)

"You just ate breakfast!" Aubrey protested.

(Aubrey and Michael had set wholemeal toast soldiers and a soft boiled egg in front of Molly for breakfast and the two and a half year old had demolished it, asking for a second piece of toast please- she had her mother's appetite. For a tiny girl, Beca ate like a horse.)

"Any news?" Michael wanted to know.

"No, we haven't heard anything yet", Tom shook his head and Aubrey sighed, falling onto a chair.

"How long has it been?" Benji wanted to know, and Donald glanced at the clock.

"Aubrey?" Lily looked at the blonde, and Aubrey shrugged.

"Molly arrived a little after midnight- eight hours? Maybe a bit longer?"

"Jesus", Stacie whistled. "Molly was six, imagine how many more death threats Jesse's had thrown at his head?"

(They had seen pregnant Beca in action, and had heard all the stories. She was a hormonal mess, in her own words.)

"Poor guy", Donald almost chuckled. "I heard a rumour that Beca's going drug free again".

(Stacie and Fat Amy visibly winced.)

"It's so weird that there's gonna be another baby", Cynthia Rose said, and Tom nodded.

"Molly slotted right in, so will this baby", Benji pointed out, as Molly used his leg as a slide (despite the fact that Molly's pink backpack held colouring books, pencils and a baby doll, she was more than happy playing with her aunts and uncles).

Michael glanced at Aubrey, the two exchanging words without speaking.

"Molly and this baby might not be the only ones, for much longer", she said quietly and Tom let go of Molly's hand in surprise.

"You're pregnant?" Fat Amy squawked, and Stacie's eyes grew so wide they almost fell out.

"You're knocked up? Aubrey Posen's knocked up?" she started to giggle.

"Gotta say, never saw that coming", Cynthia Rose said, and Tom chuckled.

"No, I'm not pregnant. We have decided to start trying, though".

"Yeah, it's time to give Molly and bub a little cousin". Michael smiled warmly at Molly who grinned and wrapped her arms around her uncle. "Besides, who wouldn't want a kid running around? It's like having a little mini best friend who worships you!"

Benji just started, unsure how to process the words he had just used to describe his goddaughter. "I don't even know what to say", he said finally- even Fat Amy was speechless.

* * *

"You're ten centimetres dilated", the doctor told her, and Beca propped herself up on her hands.

"Thank you Jesus freaking Christ. Let's get this show on the road, then! This kid is not staying in there any longer!" she forced a smile onto her face, and Chloe pushed back the sweaty strands of hair back. "Swanson, did you hear? No more babies. This is the last one".

"Yes dear", Jesse said loyally.

"But the baby isn't coming".

Everything that Jesse was feeling melted away, as he looked at the doctor in panic. "What do you mean?" he stuttered.

"We need to prepare you for a caesarean".

"What?" Beca's eyes grew huge. "No!"

"Mrs Swanson-"

"No, no, no. I want to push". She screwed up her face in pain as another wave of contraction washed through her and sucked back the scream that she wanted to let out. "I don't want a C-section". She shook her head firmly; eyes wide with panic, and Chloe took over.

"Beca, sweetie-"

"No, no, no!" tears gathered in her eyes and she shook her head wildly.

"Beca, we need to", Jesse said gently, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I'm gonna be there the whole time, alright? I'm not leaving you".

Beca Swanson was a strong woman. She had piercings (granted, she didn't wear them, but she had them). She had tattoos (that Jesse traced over when they were lying in their bed, making her shiver). She had endured a six hour, drug free labour with their first child. She could handle pain.

But the thought of a caesarean scared the hell out of her. She had heard of the complications. She didn't want that.

"No". She grabbed Jesse's shirt, pulling him closer towards her. "No, please".

(He had never seen that look on her face before and that look alone was enough to make him slap the doctor for scaring his wife. As long as he lived, he never wanted to see that look on his wife's face again.)

"Beca, come on", Jesse said, shaking her out of her thoughts. "It'll be okay. I'm gonna be right there, okay?"

She just nodded tearily, and the doctor nodded, preparing to wheel her bed out of the room.

"Good luck, Bec". Chloe pecked a kiss to her cheek, hugging her softly. "Go and bring my goddaughter or godson into the world, alright? I love you".

"Love you too", Beca choked out.

Chloe hugged Jesse quickly and he pecked a kiss to her cheek.

"Thanks for being there, Chlo".

"Wouldn't miss it", she assured him, as he left to scrub up for the operating theatre.

* * *

Jesse clutched Beca's hand and she squeezed it tight, closing her eyes and trying to focus on something else. It didn't hurt (she couldn't feel a thing) but if there was one thing she didn't want, it was her stomach sliced open.

"Are you okay?" he wanted to know, the look on her face making him panic.

She nodded wordlessly, and he squeezed her hand a little tighter.

He could hear a variety of different medical terms, not knowing what even one of them meant. But what he did understand was the first cry of a newborn baby.

"it's a boy!" the baby was held into the air, squirmy and covered in stuff that Jesse didn't even see, and the pair gasped.

"Oh my God!"

"Oh, Bec, he's gorgeous!" Jesse pressed his lips against hers, not tearing his eyes off their baby for a moment.

Wrapped in a blanket, the baby was handed to his father and Jesse bounced him gently, to soothe his wailing (it seemed their baby boy, just like his big sister, had inherited his parents' pipes).

"Hey beautiful boy", Jesse cooed, holding the baby in his arms. Beca, tears running down her face, reached out to touch her son, a grin spreading across her face.

"Hello! Hello Zachary!"

"Zachary Thomas Swanson", Jesse said, looking at her for confirmation. "He's so cute, Bec! We make beautiful babies".

"Last one", she murmured, and Jesse kissed her forehead gently.

"Last one. I love you".

"Love you", she mumbled, her voice barely audible.

"Beca?"

The next minute and a half was a blur. He heard panic on the doctor's voice, saw his baby boy plucked out of his hands and was escorted out of the room without an idea in the world what was going on.

"Beca!" he shrieked, as the door closed behind him.

"It's alright", a nurse assured him. "Your wife is going to be okay-"

"What the hell happened? She was fine!"

"She lost a lot of blood, the doctor just wants to stabilise her and for that to happen-"

"That's my wife in there! I need to be with my wife!"

(The doctor didn't understand what was at stake there. He promised to stand by Beca through thick and thin, and right now she was strapped to an operating table and he wasn't there. He was essentially breaking a promise to his wife, and that was not what he did.)

"Mr Swanson, your wife is going to be fine-"

"How can you say that?"

"Jesse!"

Seeing Chloe come down the hallway was too much for him, and his voice broke.

"Chloe-"

"Oh my God, what happened?"

"She- she-"

Chloe guided Jesse to a seat, helping him sit down and rubbing his back comfortingly. "Jesse, Beca's tough", she reminded him. "She's a fighter- she's not going to give up on you".

"She looked so pale!"

"Beca's almost see-through", the redhead joked (they had been out for dinner once, and Beca had asked Jesse to describe her. Jesse, with an ear to ear grin on his face, had blurted out 'awkward, pale and very, very small'. She had been outraged, but as the night wore on, she realised that what he said was the absolute truth). "Jesse, you're not going to lose her. She just gave birth to a beautiful baby-" she paused, realising she didn't even know if she had a niece or a nephew.

"Boy", Jesse supplied. "Zachary".

"She just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and has a gorgeous two and a half year old daughter. Beca's not going to give up on that". She rested her head on his shoulder, squeezing him gently. "She promised".

* * *

"Beca's sleeping", a nurse told him, coming out of the room. "Would you like to properly meet your son?"

Jesse nodded and Chloe smiled at him, giving him a slight push. "Go and meet your baby boy".

Jesse followed the nurse, to where his son was in the nursery.

"Seven pound, three ounce, fifty centimetre long Zachary Thomas Swanson". Jesse smiled, as the nurse placed his son in his arms. "Hey there baby boy… you're so beautiful. Just like your mummy and your big sister. I love you so much, Zac, Daddy loves you so much".

"He's gorgeous", Chloe said in a whisper and Jesse refrained himself from jumping with the newborn in his arms (he hadn't even realised she followed him). "He looks just like you".

"Beca got her mini Jesse", Jesse almost chuckled. "Chlo-"

"Hey, she's gonna be okay". Chloe squeezed his shoulder gently, before dropping a kiss to Zachary's forehead. "Hey there baby boy. You're so lucky, being a part of this family. We love you so, so much already".

* * *

"Chloe!" Aubrey jumped up and Molly grinned.

"Aunt Chloe!"

"Hey sweetie!" Chloe wrapped her arms around Molly, kneeling down to properly embrace her goddaughter.

"So, what happened? Boy or girl? Or was it twins like Donald thought?" Fat Amy demanded, and Chloe plopped down in a chair.

(Donald would have never said it to Beca, but she had started to show earlier in her pregnancy with that baby than with Molly.)

"It's a boy", she said finally, and that was all that she said.

And that was what scared them the most. If Chloe was keeping quiet, then there was something she was holding back.

* * *

She was so pale. The way she was laying on the bed made her seem even tinier than usual, and that scared the hell out of Jesse. Not even the beautiful baby boy in his arms could hold his attention- he was focused on his wife and nothing else.

"Come on Bec", he whispered to her sleeping form. "Come on, I can't lose you".

"Hey there Hilary Swank from Million Dollar Baby", Jesse said with a grin; as Beca's eyes fluttered open. "Want to meet your son?"

"Son?" she said blearily, her eyes adjusting to the light and her head fuzzy.

"Zachary Thomas, time to meet your mummy". Standing up; he moved closer to the bed, the baby in his arms. Zachary was nestled against his chest and at the sight of the newborn, Beca felt tears well up in her eyes.

"Oh my God, he's beautiful".

"We make beautiful babies", he agreed with a grin, his lips meeting hers. "I was so scared, Bec, I almost lost you. You lost so much blood- you're still so pale-"

(He was rambling, and sounded more like her than himself.)

"But you didn't". She reached out, taking her son from his father's arms with her own shaking limbs and cradling him gently. "Hey there baby boy".

(The fear she saw on Jesse's face was like nothing she'd ever seen before. For as long as she lived, she never wanted to see that look on his face again. He had almost lost her, and she had almost lost him. Neither of them was ever going to be put in that situation ever again.)

"Does everyone know?"

"I don't know how much Chloe's told them, so I'm going to say yes". He shrugged, hopping up onto the bed beside the mother son pair (he didn't care that he was half hanging off the bed, he wanted to be with his family). "If I go and tell them, are you going to be okay?"

She nodded uncertainly. "But don't go bringing them all in".

(She was paler than Jesse had ever seen her, and he could tell just by looking at her that she wasn't up to seeing their entire family.)

"Molly?" he questioned and Beca nodded.

"Just Molly".

* * *

Jesse felt his heart swell as he stood in the hallway, looking into the waiting room. Their entire aca pella family were sitting there, waiting to hear of the arrival of their newest member. He knew that both his parents and Beca's were on their way (because Chloe had called them), but at that moment all that mattered was their family being there.

"Hey", he called, and Fat Amy leapt up.

"Jesse!" she all but bellowed.

"Daddy!" Molly called excitedly from where she was bouncing on Stacie's lap. "Daddy!"

"Hey there big sister", he said brightly, holding out his arms. She flew towards him, pigtails bouncing, and he scooped her up, holding her a little tighter than usual, breathing in the smell of baby shampoo that lingered in her curls. "Guess what?"

"What?" she grinned at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I miss you! I sleep at Aunt Bee's and we have soldiers for breakfast!"

"Oh, I missed you too! Guess what, Molls? Mummy had the baby".

"Baby?"

"Yeah, Mummy had the baby! It's a little boy; you've got a little brother".

Molly's grin grew even wider, and she squeezed her father tight. "Brother? I a big sister?"

"You're a big sister", he confirmed, laughing at her cuteness (as Cynthia Rose and Donald cooed at her innocence).

"Name?" Aubrey coughed. "Chloe didn't tell us a fu- freaking thing".

(Despite Beca's continuous use of profanities, she had told them in no uncertain terms that she would murder them if they were to swear around her daughter".

"Zachary Thomas Swanson", Jesse reported, shifting Molly to his hip and rubbing her back. "He's beautiful".

"Awww", Stacie cooed- but she knew there was something he wasn't telling her. "How's Beca?"

"Yeah, how's Beca?" Benji wanted to know, and Jesse swallowed. "Is she okay?"

"It was tough", he admitted. "Chloe-"

The redhead shrugged. "Wasn't my place to say, Jess, I wasn't sure on details".

"She went drug free again, but he wasn't coming and started to go into distress. His heart rate dropped dramatically and she needed an emergency C-section", he said, taking a seat and holding Molly with shaking arms. "She lost a lot of blood-"

"Oh my God!" Stacie's eyes filled with tears, and Aubrey reached out to squeeze Jesse's hand. Donald wrapped his arm a little tighter around Lily and Chloe gulped, willing herself not to cry (because she had cried hard enough waiting for the little boy to come into the world).

"Mummy 'kay?" Molly said in concern.

"Yeah baby, Mummy's okay. Mummy's a tough cookie".

"She's okay?" Fat Amy's bottom lip quivered with emotion, and Jesse nodded, pulling out his phone.

"Want to see a picture of your nephew?"

They crowded around, cooing at the little boy.

"He's so cute!"

"He's beautiful!"

"Oh my God, congratulations!"

"God, you two make good looking kids".

"Can we meet him?" Lily whispered.

Jesse looked around, his heart sinking at the reaction he knew he was going to get. "Not right now", he said softly. "Beca knows you're all here and loves you insanely for it, but she's really not up for it. Later today?"

Aubrey nodded understandingly, squeezing Jesse's shoulder. "You tell earspike we'll be waiting for the all clear".

"You're going to wait here?"

"Of course we are!" Cynthia Rose said in surprise (she didn't even know why Jesse found it necessary to ask). "He's beautiful, congratulations".

"Yeah, send Beca our love".

"Tell Shawshank to hurry the hell up and perk up because we want to meet our godson!"

"Nephew".

"Hey, you got godfather last time, why don't I get a chance?"

"You've gotta be a man to be a godfather".

"It's just a title".

Molly laughed, waving and blowing kisses to her aunts and uncles. "Bye!"

"Molly, give your baby brother a kiss for Aunt Stacie", Stacie called.

"I will!" Molly nodded enthusiastically.

* * *

"That my baby?" Molly motioned to the bundle in her mother's arms, before struggling to climb up beside her. Jesse hoisted her onto the bed before sitting down beside her, looking in wonder at their new family of four.

"This is our baby", Beca said softly. "This is Zachary".

"Hi Zacky", Molly grinned. "I hold him? Please?"

"What do you think, Molly?" Beca wanted to know.

"Love him", she said quietly. "Mummy, I stay at Aunt Bee's".

"I know, did you have fun?" she handed the baby to Jesse, who cradled him gently and motioned for Molly to move over.

"Yeah… I miss you, Mummy".

"I missed you too". Beca smiled at her daughter, as Jesse helped her to support the newest Swanson.

"What do you think, Molly?"

"He small".

"He is small; he's very small, isn't he?" Jesse agreed. "You know what? You were even smaller!"

"No", she giggled.

Beca nodded in confirmation. "You were, Molls".

She bent down, smacking a soft kiss to her brother's forehead, and Jesse's heart swelled in his chest.

"Love him, Mummy". Molly looked at her mother with Jesse's dark eyes and Beca wanted to melt into a puddle on the bed.

Because she loved them too. She loved them so much it hurt.


	26. Memories

"Honey, I'm home!" Jesse called, as he slung his backpack into the corner of the room, kicking off his shoes. "Beca?"

"Upstairs!"

Her voice floated down and Jesse frowned, because it sounded much further away than just upstairs. But he set up the carpet, keeping his ears out to where she would be.

Upstairs was slightly chillier than it was downstairs- and seeing the attic door open made him understand why.

"Hey Bec, what are you doing?" he popped up and Beca jumped slightly.

The tiny brunette was surrounded by old photographs. Barden old photographs.

"Looking", she said simply, motioning around her.

"Aren't you cold?" he pressed. Whilst it wasn't cold outside, the attic was chilly and he saw the goosebumps on Beca's skin.

"No". She shoved a photograph at him, grinning. "I was looking for this, remember?"

(He didn't remember, but it was best just to agree with her.)

"Hey, I haven't seen this in forever!" he laughed. "Didn't we used to have this on the wall in the apartment?"

She nodded, smiling even wider. "I found a bunch of others, too".

Jesse grinned down at the photo in his hands, memories flooding back to him like it was yesterday.

The night of the ICCAs in their freshman year, where Beca helped the Barden Bellas win at Lincoln Centre and redeem Aubrey's title. The two aca pella groups had gathered in the hotel, ordering pizza and arguing and laughing and joking all at the same time. Chloe had snapped the photo on her phone when neither of them were looking- Beca was settled in Jesse's lap, a paper plate of pizza in her lap, Jesse's arms wrapped around her waist protectively.

Her head was turned and she was looking at him with adoration in her eyes (although for anyone who was there while the photo was taken, she was telling him off for stealing bites of her pizza), and Jesse was grinning cheekily back at her, eyes shining (arguing that if she ate his popcorn, he could eat her pizza- and Fat Amy had stared at them in shock, before demanding to know whether that was a euphemism for something).

(Fat Amy's comment alone was almost enough for Aubrey to blow chunks. Chloe had comfortingly patted the blonde's shoulder as she tried to pull herself together, Amy simply shrugging and biting into another piece of pizza, as Stacie and Cynthia Rose tittered in amusement.)

"How long have you been up here?"

"What's the time?" she questioned back.

"Just after five".

"Probably three hours". She shrugged.

"You've had to pee for like two and a half, right?"

She shrugged, and he rested a hand on the swell of her four and a half month pregnant belly. "I wanted to find these photos".

"What else did you find?"

Her whole face lit up and she moved to retrieve another stack that she had set aside.

"You want to hang them all downstairs?"

"No, I just wanted to show you", she corrected. "But some of them".

"A lot of them".

"Most of them, actually". She shrugged and he bit back a laugh.

(Who would have thought that Beca would be the sentimental one? Not his eighteen year old self, that was for sure.)

"We'll get some frames when we go shopping tomorrow- we're still going shopping, right?"

"Yep. The baby warehouse place, that's gonna be a fun expedition".

"I'm kinda excited". His eyes sparkled and she grinned sheepishly.

"I am too".

He kissed the top of her head, pulling her closer towards him. He didn't know how he got that lucky, but he did. He had a gorgeous wife (who was as sarcastic as she was when they were eighteen) and a beautiful, healthy baby boy or girl on the way. At that point, he didn't think his life could get any better.

"Hey, hey, look at this". Beca pulled another photo out of the pile, showing it to him. "The last riff-off before graduation".

"And Aubrey and Donald and Chloe came back for it", he remembered. "So did Bumper, that douche".

They had gathered for the last time before they all left Barden in the empty pool, the night dark and their spirits high. Chloe and the rest of the previous Barden graduates had come to see their babies (Chloe and Aubrey's words, not Donald's) graduate, and they were not missing out on the riff-off. And at the end of the night, the original Treblemakers and the original Barden Bellas gathered for a group photo, Beca and Jesse- their captains and star couple- in the middle. Fat Amy was sprawled out in front of them and they had been frozen mid-laugh at something she had said. Jesse's arms were around Beca and Beca was looking at him with a sparkle in her eyes that had never been seen before.

"Why didn't we put this up?" Beca wanted to know, grinning at the memories it brought back. "We had it up at the apartment".

"We'll frame it and hang it downstairs- we've got a copy on the computer, anyway", Jesse told her, setting the photograph aside and scattering a new pile around. "God, why didn't we put any of these in albums or something? Are seriously going to be that couple who store monumental moments in their lives in freaking shoeboxes?"

"Apparently so". Beca shrugged, setting the riff off photo aside.

The downstairs of their house was littered with photos, taken over the years. Their wedding photo hanging in their living room, their graduation photo hanging in the kitchen and dining area. Photos from Barden and beyond sitting on shelves and cabinets all throughout the house, all bookmarking important events that had taken place. But somehow, all the moments that they had forgotten, had wound up in the attic.

"Hey Bec, look at this one!" Jesse almost laughed, reaching for another stack of photos and flipping through them. "Remember this night? We have to frame this one!"

Beca almost groaned. "How could I forget? You serenaded me with Adam Sandler and dropped to your knees at my feet and proposed. That's not a night I'll be forgetting anytime soon!"

"I asked Chloe before I did it", he confessed. "I thought the girl was going to have an aneurism".

Beca laughed. "It's a wonder the poor girl didn't explode!"

Jesse just laughed. "I don't care that there's an almost identical photo in our bedroom, this is going in the lounge room. This is going on the coffee table".

* * *

***Flashback***

"Hey Chlo, where did Jesse go?" Beca asked curiously, glancing around the room. Her boyfriend and disappeared twenty minutes earlier and was yet to be sighted, and Jesse going missing was never a good sign.

"Dunno". Chloe shrugged, unwilling to elaborate, a huge grin plastered across her face.

"Fat Amy!" Beca turned around, almost crashing into the Australian. "Have you seen Jesse?"

"You want to get it on in the bathroom", she accused, and Beca flushed as red as Chloe's hair.

"What is wrong with you people?" she accused.

"if I had a man like that I'd totally do him in the bathroom", Stacie said cheerfully, and Beca put her head in her hands (like she had done in so many Bellas rehearsals where Stacie's stories ran off track and they heard so much more than they ever needed to hear).

"What the hell?" Beca heard Aubrey say, and she lifted her head out of her hands.

"What the hell's going on?" Beca wanted to know, as the lights suddenly dimmed. "And where the hell is Jesse?"

Chloe bounced on the balls of his feet, as Jesse advanced towards her, an ear to ear grin on his face.

Oh dear God.

The boy had a microphone.

"_I wanna make you smile whenever you're sad, carry you around when your arthritis is bad. Oh all I wanna do is grow old with you_", he sang directly at her, Donald and Benji humming along. "_I'll get you medicine when your tummy aches; build you a fire if the furnace breaks. Oh it could be so nice, growing old with you_".

Tears filled her eyes, as she debated whether to kiss him or kill him. She didn't know whether to run or stay.

(When Jesse first decided how he was going to propose to the girl, he knew it could either go one or two ways. She could run and leave him stranded- what the old Beca would do- or she could stay, accept his proposal and leave him the happiest man in the world.)

"_I'll miss you, kiss you, give you my coat when you are cold_", Jesse said and Chloe let out a little squeal, slapping her hands to her mouth. "_Need you, feed you, even let ya hold the remote control_". He winked at her and Beca choked out a laugh, biting her lip.

"You're an idiot", she whispered, a tear leaking down her cheek.

"_So let me do the dishes in our kitchen sink; put you to bed when you've had too much to drink. I could be the man who grows old with you… I wanna grow old with you_". He knelt down in front of her, holding out a velvet box. "Beca Mitchell, will you marry me?"

She nodded wordlessly and Jesse slipped the ring onto her finger, wrapping her arms around him.

"I'm going to kill you", she whispered, as Jesse lifted her off the ground. "But I love you so, so much".

"I love you Bec". He pressed his lips to her and she grinned against his mouth. "Grow old with me?"

"I wouldn't want to grow old with anyone else". She deepened the kiss, making Fat Amy whoop.

"Yeah, Shawshank!"

Beca rolled her eyes, pulling away from Jesse's lips. Jesse kept his arms around her; spinning her around and making her squeal (Beca Mitchell- Beca soon to be Swanson- actually squealed).

"She said yes!" he whooped to Benji and the other boy ran forward to smack his palm against Jesse's.

"We're getting married!"

***End flashback***

* * *

"I can't believe you did that". She shook her head in amusement. "Out of all the nerdy things to do, you serenaded me with Adam Sandler".

"Hey, it was gonna be Bruno Mars but Donald told me not to".

"Check this one out", Jesse said to Beca, holding out another photo.

"Oh my God, I saw this one earlier!" Beca started to giggle. "How is it that they managed to pull the exact same poses in both photos? Its like, put them next to each other and essentially we have two copies of the same photograph".

Their wedding was the best day of their life. Jesse knew it would be, he knew the day he got married would be amazing, but meeting Beca confirmed it.

* * *

***Flashback***

"Bec, you look beautiful", Chloe said genuinely, and Stacie nodded enthusiastically.

"You look hot", Stacie confirmed. "I would totally do you".

"That's unnecessary", Fat Amy coughed.

Beca grinned shyly, looking into the mirror. Beca Mitchell was never going to be the girl who stood in front of all her friends wearing a white gown. But Jesse Swanson had changed her, and she was almost Beca Swanson.

"What do you think Jesse's gonna say?" she said shyly.

Chloe looked at the small brunette, before taking her in her arms. "Beca, if Jesse doesn't jump you on the spot, I'll eat Benji's hat".

"Yeah, you'll re-enact the ICCAs", Cynthia Rose said brightly. "In front of God and all your relatives".

(The fact that Beca Mitchell was getting married in a church, wearing a dress- a white dress- was what surprised them the most. Fat Amy and Stacie were betting that the two were going to elope in Vegas.)

Chloe knew there was more to Beca's worries. "Beca, I promise you, Jesse's going to be standing at the end of that aisle when you walk out there. He's gonna be standing there and you're gonna marry him and the two of you are going to have the happily ever after all his movies have predicted. You trust me, right?"

Beca nodded. "But-"

"You aren't your parents", Aubrey spoke up.

(Beca Mitchell NEVER thought that Aubrey Posen would be one of her bridesmaids. Aubrey Posen, out of all the people in the world.)

(Fat Amy had also tried to convince Beca and Jesse to allow her to marry them, because apparently she could legally do that or something.)

"But-"

"You aren't your parents", Chloe said firmly. "The two of you are going to get married and have the aca-children that Jesse predicted on aca-initiation night, right?"

"Aca-scuse me?" Aubrey's voice was shrill, because clearly that piece of information had never been shared with her.

(For good reason, Beca might not have gotten on with the blonde, but she didn't want to give her an aneurism).

"Aubrey, this day isn't about you", Stacie scolded. "Although Jesse's groomsman… oh my God"! She fanned herself and Aubrey smacked her arm.

"No, no, no. you are not defiling Jesse's cousins at my wedding!"

"I wasn't talking about Jesse's cousins".

Beca jabbed her finger at Stacie. "If you go near Benji or Donald, I will kill you with my bare hands. No sex at my wedding".

"Party pooper", Stacie grumbled.

"You're gonna grow old together", Chloe said comfortingly, dabbing at Beca's face with a tissue. "You're gonna get your fairy tale wedding and give me little nieces and nephews, mini Becas and mini Jesses- and live happily ever after".

"how-"

"Beca, I know you, and I know Jesse. You aren't your mother and he's not your father. Trust me, promise". She kissed Beca's forehead gently and rubbed her back. "You trust me, don't you?"

Beca nodded shakily; letting her insecurities show for the first time the Bellas could remember. "Yep".

"Let's get going!" Fat Amy said, looking at the clock. "You ready to go, Shawshank?"

"Um…"

"She is", Lily whispered.

"Mitchell, get your bouquet".

"Stop threatening the bride, Jesus Christ!" Beca snatched up her bouquet, standing up and straightening her dress.

"You look gorgeous", Fat Amy told her. "You really do".

"Jesse's gonna drop dead", Lily whispered to her, and Beca looked at her.

"I love you awesome nerds", she said, choosing to ignore Lily.

The car ride to the church was the longest and the shortest ride of Beca's life.

(Jesse had laughed and suggested that maybe she should take a taxi to the church, he could serenade her from his car. She had chuckled appreciatively, before shooting his idea down. "No".)

"Ready to do this, Bec?" Chloe wanted to know, as her father came to take her arm.

She swallowed hard. "Yep".

"Jesse's a lucky guy, Bec", her father told her. "You look absolutely beautiful".

As Fat Amy set off down the aisle, Beca stood at the doors, taking a deep breath.

"This is the start of the best adventure of your life", her father told her, squeezing her hand. She just nodded, knowing that if she tried to speak she'd either cry or throw up.

"Let's go". He squeezed her hand and Beca stepped forward, a thousand and one thoughts flying through her head.

(What if she tripped? What happened if she pulled an Aubrey and threw up everywhere? What if Jesse decided he didn't want to marry her? What if someone objected?)

"Wow", Jesse breathed, as he set sight on his bride. "Oh my God… wow".

"She scrubs up good", Donald said quietly, and he just nodded wordlessly.

Beca's father kissed her cheek gently, and she stepped up to stand opposite her soon to be husband.

"You look gorgeous", he whispered to her.

"You don't look so bad yourself, nerd". Her eyes sparkled and Jesse's grin grew even wider.

"Beca and Jesse have decided to write their own vows", the minister told them, and Jesse nodded. "Jesse?"

"I'm gonna keep my vows short and sweet- just like you Bec", Jesse said brightly, making their wedding party titter and Beca frown. "From the day I first saw you, from the day I serenaded you from my parents' car, I knew that you were something special. Meeting you at the radio station confirmed that, and I made it my mission to be best friends and or lovers".

(Beca flushed scarlet, and yet he kept talking.)

"It took a year, but I wore you down. You're so passionate, about everything. Your music- I love the way your face lights up when you get a mix just right. I was the first person you showed your unfinished work to, and I feel so incredibly honoured. You put your whole heart into everything you do, and I'm so glad you do. We've had five years together, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I can't wait to grow old with you".

"You're such a nerd", she laughed shakily. "You're so persistent. You didn't let it go, when we met at the station. No matter how hard I pushed you away, you stayed. You weaselled your way into my heart and you've been there ever since. I love everything about you. I love your eyes. I love your smile. I love the way you make me smile. I made you work for a smile, but now I'm always smiling around you- and it's not just because you look funny".

She crinkled her nose at him and Jesse bit back a chuckle, grinning at her.

"Even after five years, you're that nerd that I met at Barden. And you're always going to be that nerd from Barden. And I'm going to be there the whole time, because we're going to grow old together".

He squeezed her hands tight, a lump rising in his throat. The Beca he had met at the station would have never done something like that, and yet, she was still exactly the same. She was the same, with her incredibly scary earspike (and no amount of pressure from Aubrey Posen was going to get her to remove it) and the big headphones (although .she wasn't wearing them, she said it would clash with her dress) and the makeup outlining her eyes.

Exchanging rings, the words that Jesse and Beca had been waiting to hear were uttered.

"You may kiss the bride".

Beca pulled him towards her with as much passion as the ICCA finals in their freshman year, not caring that her father and all their friends and relatives (because Jesse was insistent that they couldn't invite one relative without inviting another) were watching.

"I love you weirdo", she whispered against his mouth.

Jesse had predicted it. Best friends and or lovers.

(She never thought they'd be both.)

***End flashback***

* * *

Beca uncrossed her legs, stretching out as best as she could from her position, leaning against Jesse.

"You right?" he checked, and she nodded.

"Just stiff from sitting in the same position for so long".

"We'll head downstairs", he decided, stretching out himself before getting to his feet. Holding out a hand for his wife, Beca gratefully accepted it, heaving herself to her feet.

"We need to put some of these photos in the baby's room", Jesse decided, as he pulled Beca up.

"We will". She nodded, stretching up to kiss him quickly. "Let's go, I have to pee".

(Jesse chuckled, because Beca trotted off to the bathroom every ten minutes. How she'd been sitting up there for the good part of four hours without exploding was so far beyond Jesse's comprehension it wasn't funny.)

"You know what?" she said conversationally, as she came out of the bathroom.

"What?"

"I'm glad my father forced me to go to Barden".

He raised an eyebrow at her (knowing that she might be able to say it to him, but there was no way in hell that Beca was going to let William Mitchell know that).

"Yeah?"

"Because I wouldn't have met you". She leaned up to press a kiss against his mouth, before frowning.

"What was that for?" he asked defensively.

"I've obviously been spending too much time with you, I've never sounded that cheesy before. Urgh".

"Aw, Becs!" he wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her tight and making her squeal. "You've always been a cheese. You were a softie from the day I met you".

"What?" she gasped. "I was not! I'm a badass!"

(She was a total softie, she cried in _The Breakfast Club_. She freaking cried like a girl, and that apparently made Jesse's whole year when he found that one out. He'd never let her forget it.)

"You were! And don't worry, we would have found each other".

"What?"

"It's inevitable. Did I not call it? Best friends and or lovers? Aca-children? I've been predicting our future since the day we met". His eyes sparkled and Beca felt herself melt a little, feeling like she was eighteen again. "I love you, weirdo".

And she loved him too.


	27. Song

**Not sure how well this one turned out- let me know, please? I appreciate your feedback so much! You guys have no idea how much it all means to me**

* * *

Life has a soundtrack. Music that moves people and makes them smile or cry while it transports them back to a time or place where they remember 'that song' playing. Good times or bad times, every moment had a song.

Jesse couldn't hear 'No Diggity' without seeing Beca rap to him in the cold of the empty pool, and Beca couldn't listen to Kansas without seeing her nerd serenade her from the back of his parents' car.

Every time Jesse heard 'Time After Time', he saw Beca drunkenly singing at an aca pella karaoke night (and she'd never live it down, because it was the same night that equally drunken Fat Amy had dared Beca to climb into the cupboard under the sink, because 'you're shorter than Beyoncé's hair, Shawshank!'. And when Beca realised she fitted, she refused to get out). And when 'Bootylicious' came on, he grinned like an idiot because that was Beca's guilty pleasure song and she knew all the words- and the dance moves (and he knew that if anyone ever found out about that, she'd castrate him).

And Beca, much to her dismay, couldn't hear 'Titanium' without remembering the time that Chloe had burst into Beca's shower in her freshman year (for the first time), drawing to her attention that it really was necessary to carry her BU rape whistle around.

All their moments were marked by songs, the melody bringing memories flooding back.

* * *

Simple Minds' 'Don't You (Forget About Me)' was their song. The classic ending to The Breakfast Club (which was their movie, despite how hard Beca had tried to deny it).

She had serenaded him with it at the ICCA finals in their freshman year ("I told you, endings are the best part!").

He had quoted it on the night he proposed ("God, you're such a weirdo, why did I agree to marry you?").

And Beca had even walked down the aisle to it (Aubrey almost had a coronary when she found out- but Beca had stood her ground. They were the most non-traditional couple in the world, and they were sticking to their guns).

It was the song that Jesse would sing to Beca to butter her up, or when she was mad at him. Their kids knew the words and were able to sing along to the soundtrack, which was a permanent feature in both their cars' stereo systems.

But that wasn't their only song.

* * *

Skyping at night wasn't their only form of contact, but it was Beca's favourite. She got to see him, to hear his voice, right before she went to sleep. And seeing Jesse, after being physically apart, for the best part of three months (because he was at home and she was at her father's), made every day okay.

"Hey Becs!" Jesse said cheerfully, one night in July. He was munching on a bowl of popcorn and she could almost guarantee that he was going to start spouting movie trivia.

(The boy had to go through at least a box of microwave popcorn a day. that was why she sent him a little care package the week before, with movies she had watched- with letters enclosed- and popcorn, to keep him occupied for at least a day.)

"Hey!" and she gave him that smile, the one he loved, the one that she reserved solely for him.

Jesse always knew that she had facial expressions reserved just for him (the plastic smile and eye roll? He'd never seen anyone else on the receiving end of that fake grin), but her secret smile was his favourite. Which was the sole reason that he had declared 'Secret Smile' by Semisonic their anthem.

(Much to her utmost disgust, but once he had his mind set on something, he stuck to it.)

Every night, he would either sing the lyrics to the chorus to her over Skype or text them to her. The bubbles on Jesse's side of Beca's phone were filled with lyrics, and sometimes Beca would return the next verse (Jesse was pretty sure he cried the first time she did that, because did he not have the most amazing girlfriend in the world?).

But that night, Beca's eyes started to droop earlier than usual, and Jesse saw her fighting yawns. Propped up on her elbow in her bed, the laptop was sitting beside her, and she was patiently listening to Jesse spout trivia about a movie that she had yet to see.

Jesse, having gone off on a tangent ten minutes earlier, focused properly on the screen to hear the deep breathing coming from her end of the Skype call. Beca's head had lolled onto her mountain of pillows and Beca had properly tugged her huge doona (because no matter what time of year it was, he had learned, she needed to be covered while sleeping), looking adorable and at peace with the world.

"Aw, Becs", Jesse said with a grin. "I knew you were tired, you stubborn girl. _Nobody knows it but you've got a secret smile, and you use it only for me. Nobody knows it but you've got a secret smile, and you use it only for me_", he sang gently. Beca smiled softly in her sleep and Jesse felt his heart swell, wanting nothing more than to be beside her at that very moment, to hold her tight and protect her from any nightmares that would come to her while she slept.

He kissed his monitor (something Beca had done three nights earlier, and Jesse had thought it was THE most adorable thing she had ever done in the entire time she had known him, right up there with dedicating the Bellas set to him), smiling. "Sleep tight sweet girl", he whispered. "I love you".

Sighing contently in her sleep, Beca smiled that smile she reserved only for Jesse, making him feel like the luckiest person in the world.

* * *

"I can't believe you, Jesse".

Beca was shaking her head, fighting at the smile on her face, fiddling with the newest addition to her ring collections. The diamond sparkled in the light, and Jesse beamed at her.

"You LOVED it!" he protested, flopping to the bed and pulling her down beside him. "Admit it, you loved it".

"You serenaded me with Adam Sandler".

"Yep!"

"Adam Sandler, Jess!" her eyes were wide and her hand were flying, trying to get him to understand the severity of the situation. "It was Adam Sandler! In front of all our friends!"

"As I said before, it was going to be Bruno Mars but Donald and Benji said that that was probably not the best idea. And Chloe loved it! Seriously, if you didn't say yes I'm sure she would have". Jesse grinned and Beca frowned a little (was that jealousy he saw on her face? His girlfriend- no, his fiancée- was a bit of a green eyed monster). "Aw, Becs. I wouldn't marry Chloe. You know why?"

(It was turning into one of the strangest conversations yet.)

"Alright weirdo, why?"

"Because you and me, that was inevitable!" he grinned, and she smacked him in the chest. "Hey!" he laughed, leaning on his elbow to face her. "You love big romantic gestures".

"That is a lie".

"ICCA finals, freshman year", he said automatically. "Serenading me with Simple Minds and your inner nerd, I'm surprised Aubrey didn't have an aneurism afterwards".

"Aubrey couldn't talk, she was in love with Unicycle", Beca scoffed, and Jesse was silent, mulling over that new piece of information.

"Huh", he said finally, making Beca chuckle.

"You're such a nerd".

"But you love me".

"Maybe". She shrugged, a smile toying at her lips. She leant over to press her lips against his, feeling him smile.

"_I'll give you medicine, when you're tummy aches_", he sang, peppering kisses along her neck and tickling her with his hot breath. She shivered, arching into his touch. "_Build you a fire if the furnace breaks. All I want to do is grow old with you_".

She didn't want to grow old with anyone else.

* * *

"Apparently this baby can hear us now", Jesse said, patting Beca's baby bump adoringly, a copy of _What to Expect When You're Expecting_ open in his left hand. "This baby might be hearing a lot more than they expected". He winked at her and her cheeks flushed pink, knowing exactly what he wasn't saying.

"Shut up", she warned.

"This child is going to be born screaming expletives if they heard what happened last night".

Plucking her own copy of the pregnancy guide off the table, she smacked him with it. "Jesse!"

He chuckled, pulling up her baggy shirt (his baggy Trebles shirt, he noted, one that she had stolen in their sophomore year of college), placing his hand beside her belly button. "Hey there baby", he whispered, and Beca felt her heart (and her baby) flutter. "Don't listen to your mummy and me; you shouldn't ever do things like that".

(He saw the smirk on Beca's face, before he copped another smack with the book.)

"I love you", he whispered to her stomach, kissing it gently and making her shiver.

"_'Cause you are my one and only. You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight. You are my one and only. You can wrap your fingers round my thumb and hold me tight. And you'll be alright"._

"I love you", Beca whispered, tossing _What to Expect When You're Expecting_ aside and pressing her lips against his. Jesse grinned, breaking the kiss to tug at her shirt.

"Go to sleep baby, you don't want to hear this".

"Jesse!" Beca laughed, as he nibbled at her ear.

* * *

Padding down the hallway, her hair wet and hanging down her back from her shower, Beca poked her head into their new daughter's room. Taking in the sight, her heart swelled and broke simultaneously, and it took everything she had not to melt into the carpet.

Jesse was cradling two day old Molly Claire to his chest, dancing around the room, serenading her with Stevie Wonder (the same way he had serenaded Beca with Kansas from the back of his parents' car, all those years ago at Barden).

"_Isn't she lovely_", he crooned, holding her in a way that looked like he never wanted to let her go. "_Isn't she wonderful? Isn't she precious, less than one minute old? I never thought, through love we'd be making one as lovely as she. But isn't she lovely, made from love_".

Turning to find Beca standing in the hallway (gripping the frame and looking weak at the knees), he grinned sheepishly. "Hey Bec".

"Hey nerd, what are you doing?"

"Bonding". He shrugged, plopping himself into the rocking chair, balancing the baby with ease, looking like he'd been doing it all his life. "Just spending some quality time with my daughter before she goes off to college".

"She's two days old", Beca reminded him, stepping into the room (because they did not need to start talking about colleges, it would only make her cry).

"Yeah, but before we know it we'll be driving into Barden and she'll be a Bella and some idiot will serenade her from his car, and I'll have to shoot him". He grinned, like the idea had just hit him (even though Donald had been talking about guns ever since he found out Beca was pregnant). "Hey Beca, can I get a gun?"

"No". She didn't even need to think about it.

"I'll be careful!"

"I've heard that one before", she scoffed (because did she need to remind him how he almost broke his hand trying to assemble Molly's bassinette? And how he had successfully taught the neighbourhood forty new swear words whilst assembling said bassinette?). "You are not keeping a gun in the same house as our child. Knowing my luck, you'll probably end up shooting yourself!"

He pouted. "But-"

"You aren't getting a gun. End of story".

He frowned, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Jesse, with the arm that wasn't holding their daughter to his chest, wrapped it around Beca and pressed a kiss to the side of her head.

"Thank you for making me a daddy", he said softly. "I love you".

* * *

"Daddy, you gonna sing to Zacky?" two and a half year old Molly questioned, leaning against her father and peering at the little bundle that was her brand new baby brother. Zachary Thomas was a week old, and she was still infatuated by the baby (which was better than the 'get this baby out of here' attitude Beca and Jesse were afraid of).

"I will", Jesse told her, stroking her messy curls back and kissing the top of her head. "I used to sing to you, you know?"

"I 'member". She said seriously (because her daddy sang to her every night, and did he forget? Did that baby make him forget that he sung to her every night before bed?).

"Do you?" Jesse smiled at her, looking down at his sleeping son, cradled in his arm in a way that made Jesse look like he'd been doing it his entire life.

By the time Beca came into the room, Molly was sleeping peacefully against her father (and looking way too much like him- she slept like her daddy) and Zac was looking up at Jesse with big blue eyes, listening to his father sing.

"_He said, 'I've been watching you Dad, ain't that cool? I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you. And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are. We got cowboy boots and camo pants, yeah we're just alike, hey, ain't we Dad?'_" Jesse sang softly, looking down at his son- their son- in adoration.

(Singing Stevie Wonder was cute, but country? Excuse her while she died of cuteness on the spot.)

"Hey Bec", he said sheepishly, spotting her in the doorway. He motioned for her to come closer, and she eased herself down onto the couch on the other side of her husband. He pressed a kiss to her temple and Beca stroked her hand over Zac's soft baby hair, looking at him in adoration.

"We make beautiful babies", she whispered, and Jesse nodded in agreement.

"I love you", he uttered.

* * *

Tears had gathered in Beca's eyes as she sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the photograph on her bedside table (Molly, Jesse and Zac at her little boy's first birthday party, all grinning and covered in cake. It was so uniquely them and her heart ached every time she saw it). She was crying because Molly was starting school, and out of all the things in the world, she found herself singing freaking ABBA.

ABBA!

(It had to be Jesse's doing.)

Because how had Molly got to be five?

How had she gotten so big she was able to start school?

And why was she singing ABBA?

(Stupid Jesse.)

"_Slipping through my fingers all the time_", she whispered, choking back her emotions. "_I try to capture every minute, the feeling in it. Slipping through my fingers all the time, do I really see what's in her mind? Each time I think I'm close to knowing, she keeps on growing, slipping through my fingers all the time_".

She wanted to keep her little (and if Jesse made a crack about Molly inheriting her height, she would hit him. with a brick) and safe and away from everything in the world that would hurt her. Because she knew that in their little house- in their home- nothing was going to hurt that girl.

* * *

"Ready for this?" Jesse asked Molly, as the eighteen year old came down the stairs, dressed in her graduation gown and cap. Molly nodded enthusiastically, a grin spreading across her face. "Barden's waiting, babe!"

"She's gonna be a Barden Bella!" Aubrey said, fanning her eyes. "You're really gonna be a Barden Bella now!"

"we always said she would be", Cynthia Rose said wisely, and Stacie nodded enthusiastically (neither fully understanding how the little baby they had held all those years ago was ready to graduate high school and move on out into the real world that was Barden University).

"Aunt Bee, you said you weren't going to cry!" Molly protested, laughing (the childhood nickname rolling unconsciously off her tongue).

"I'm not crying", Fat Amy protested, before Molly could even notice the tears streaming down her face. "its just raining on my face".

Molly blinked at her for a moment (tactfully choosing not to comment on the worst excuse her aunt had made to date), before hugging her.

"I'm gonna miss you", Chloe sobbed, hugging her goddaughter tight.

"Aunt Chloe, I haven't left yet", Molly said gently.

"Yeah, we've still got three months of her", Zac said cheerfully, and Beca didn't know whether to flick him or hug him (because his big sister was leaving and surely her son was holding back emotions like she did). "she's got to make a big speech and everything and we've got to record it just in case she does something like fall down the stairs or hurl".

(Beca chose to smack his arm.)

"Zachary", Jesse warned.

"Yeah Zac, be nice! There's not a chance you're getting the bigger bedroom if you act like that", Molly scoffed.

(As if she was going to give up her bedroom to her little brother.)

"Let's go!" Jesse called.

"Yeah, way to be all enthusiastic about our kid leaving us", Beca told him, sucking back tears. Molly hugged her shoulders gently.

"I'm not leaving yet, Mum", she reminded her. "I'm not leaving for another three months".

"But you're graduating high school!"

Beca nodded and Jesse wrapped his arms around her, dropping a kiss to the top of her head like he had done so many times before. She buried her face in his shirt (just because she had gotten better at sharing her emotions didn't mean she liked people seeing her cry) and he held her tight for a moment, until her breathing evened.

That very afternoon, the day that Molly Claire Swanson graduated high school with grades that made both her parents so proud, the song 'Graduation' by Vitamin C played.

The same song that had farewelled Beca and Jesse and the rest of their aca-people all those years ago at Barden University.

(The cheesy tradition, Beca had scoffed, when she had first heard it. But, as Jesse never failed to remind her, a few tears had leaked out that day.)

_As we go on  
We remember  
All the times we  
Had together  
And as our lives change  
From whatever  
We will still be  
Friends forever_

"It never gets old, does it?" Jesse wanted to know and Beca just shook her head.

"They couldn't have found a better song?" she asked in disbelief.

"Oh, way to ruin the moment, Mum", Zac said, and Jesse laughed.

"Your mum's a sentimental one, Zac, she'll never admit it to you, though".

"I'm a badass".

"Says the woman who dedicated our set to the love of her life", Stacie scoffed, overhearing Beca's last comment and making Zac chuckle. "If Aubrey knew, she would have killed you and then died herself".

"Aunt Aubrey didn't know", Zac chuckled (because even all those years later, it was hilarious).

Jesse wrapped his arms around Beca and she stretched up to kiss him, like she had done all those years ago at Barden, leaving the stage after serenading him.

(And it still felt like the first time.)

* * *

The moments in their lives were marked by music- and for the Bella and the Treblemaker; they wouldn't have it any other way.

* * *

**Follow me on Twitter ( RhyleighGrace) to get the trivial information and questions that I put out, not only for this story but my other Pitch Perfect fics as well. Thanks for reading!**


	28. Flowergirl

When Beca picked up the phone that peaceful July day, she essentially had her eardrums blown out the other side of her head.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Beca threw the phone across the room, clutching her head to ensure none of her eardrums exploded, before gingerly picking up the phone and checking the caller ID. Chloe Beale could squeal.

(Fatal mistake on her part, she admitted it.)

"Oh my God!" she gasped.

"Beca, guess what?"

"What?"

"Guess!"

"What?"

"Guess!"

"What?"

"Guess!"

"WHAT?" Beca bellowed finally.

(Because Jesse made her play that stupid game enough and she hated it. Chloe of all people knew that.)

"I'm getting married!"

(Chloe was a singer, and Chloe could project her voice quite far. It was a good trick to have, Beca acknowledged, but not when it was right into her ear.)

Beca let out a scream of excitement. "Oh my God!"

"I know!"

"Congratulations!"

"You're a bridesmaid! And Molly's the flower girl!"

Jesse opened the front door just in time to hear Beca's shriek of excitement, and cocked his eyebrow in confusion. "Hey Bec", he called.

"Jess, Chloe's getting married!"

"Congratulations!" he called towards the phone, a grin spreading across his face.

"Oh my God, I can't wait! I'm coming over tonight, we have to start planning!"

It was at that moment that they realised how big Chloe Beale's wedding was going to be.

* * *

"Sweet Jesus", Jesse commented, coming through the door with Molly in his arms. "What's going on?"

"I've been planning my wedding since I was seven, Swanson", Chloe almost snapped (the same reaction that Beca had gotten when she merely raised her eyebrows), before passing another picture of flowers to Lily.

"Wow", was all he said, dropping a kiss to Beca's head and passing Molly to Stacie (who eagerly held out her arms- anything to get out of wedding preparations, he reasoned). "How does Tom feel about all of this?"

"Tom's turning up", Cynthia Rose told him (because that was the answer that she got when she questioned the same thing. "Chloe, is your fiancée aware of this?" "He'll be there, Cynthia Rose, and he'll like it").

Chloe's wedding was set to be a production and a half.

(Beca had been hanging out for the wedding of Aubrey Posen, which was set to be scheduled to the minute- somehow she had glazed over Chloe's wedding in the meantime.)

* * *

Dress shopping, in the eyes of Beca Swanson, was never fun. She had declared that when she went shopping for her prom dresses, her mother in tow, and had declared that again when she went shopping for her wedding gown and made both Chloe and Fat Amy cry.

(Fat Amy had fanned her face and declared that there was no way she was crying, but they saw through her.)

But apparently there was something worse.

And that was flower girl dress shopping.

(Her poor daughter had been tugged in and out of dresses for the last two hours and was looking well and truly over it.)

"She is not wearing that", Beca said, eyes wide, as Chloe tugged the zipper up the back of Molly's dress.

"Look at her!" Fat Amy crooned. "She looks so cute!"

"She looks like a marshmallow", Beca said bluntly. "Molly, come here, let Mummy take it off. It's alright; Mummy won't make you wear this".

"It's Aunt Chloe's wedding, Beca", Aubrey said sweetly, as Molly toddled towards her mother.

"Yes, but I don't want my daughter breaking out into a rash because of the lace! Chlo, the bridesmaid dresses are simple, your dress is simple… don't you think Molly should have a simple dress too?" she questioned, as she wrestled Molly out of the flowery, lacy death trap.

"She does look a bit like a marshmallow", Stacie offered. "A cute marshmallow, though!"

Lily snickered, as Molly sat on her mother's lap wearing nothing but her nappy.

"That was a bit much", Chloe reasoned. "Time for the next dress!" and she swooped her goddaughter out of Beca's arms, carrying her off to stuff her chubby little body into the next dress.

"Poor thing", Cynthia Rose said sombrely. "She's going to look back at this in ten years and say 'Mum, what the hell did you let Aunt Chloe do to me'?"

If it wasn't her best friend, Aubrey would have laughed. But she didn't, she held it together. "Cynthia Rose, be nice", she warned, biting back a smile. "She's excited; she's been planning this day since she was seven".

"I didn't realise that she'd be dragging my daughter into this".

"As if she was going to have a wedding without her goddaughter!" Aubrey scoffed.

"So far into this. The poor thing doesn't know what's hit her!"

The fourteen month old looked at her mother with an almost unreadable expression on her face and Beca just laughed.

"We're going home soon baby, don't worry".

* * *

"You look gorgeous, Bec", Jesse said with a grin, and Beca smiled shyly at him.

"Thanks Jess".

(It blew his mind that even after all those years, that she still doubted herself. Jesse had told her hundreds of thousands of times exactly how beautiful she was, and how that under no circumstance was he going to leave her, but it didn't excuse her doubts.)

"Look at your daughter, though", Beca said quickly, changing the subject (because she didn't know what to do when someone complimented her).

Jesse's eyes grew wide as he spied his daughter, sitting up on the rocking chair all by herself.

"Hey there flower girl!" Jesse scooped Molly up into the air, holding her above his head. "Hello gorgeous!"

"Daddy!" she laughed, squealing.

"Watch her hair", Beca warned. "It took me ages to get the perfect pigtails that Chloe and Tom want, she might actually drop dead if they're not perfect".

"That's Aubrey, Bec, not Chloe", Jesse chuckled. "Let's do this!"

* * *

"Wow", Aubrey uttered, as Chloe turned to face them. "You look really beautiful, Chlo".

"Thanks Aubrey". Chloe grinned, and Fat Amy gave her two thumbs up.

"I'd totally do you", Stacie offered, and Cynthia Rose chuckled.

"There's no need for that", Fat Amy coughed.

"Hey Bec, what do you think?"

Beca grabbed Molly for the third time (because her daughter was perfectly content with running amuck in the hotel room, and she doubted that they'd appreciate the eighteen month old's destruction), hoisting her to her hip. "You look stunning, Chlo", she said truthfully. "What do you think, Molly?"

"Pretty!" she declared, reaching for Chloe's wrist. "Scarf".

"No", Beca warned her. "Daddy's got yours".

Molly frowned for a moment, reaching for Lily.

"Go to Aunt Lily", Beca decided, laughing.

"Come here flower girl", Lily whispered, and Molly wrapped her arms around her aunt's neck.

* * *

Jesse cooed as Molly advanced down the aisle with her little basket of flowers, beside Aubrey. Grinning, she waved, tossing handfuls of flowers.

"Daddy!" she said brightly, as she passed her father.

Jesse waved, chuckling a little under his breath, as Aubrey ushered her to the front of the church.

Beca suddenly felt tears well up in her eyes and glanced into the rows of people, her blue eyes meeting with Jesse's dark ones almost immediately. He frowned slightly at her and she gave him a smile. She saw Jesse visibly relax- slightly- and turned her attention back to Chloe and Tom.

Chloe was absolutely glowing with happiness, and Tom had an ear to ear smile on his face. The pair of them were showing almost identical emotions to what Jesse and Beca felt on their wedding day.

Their wedding was so different. Whilst Jesse wanted the big traditional ceremony, Beca didn't. So they compromised- it wasn't as big as Jesse imagined, and it certainly wasn't as traditional.

(Beca walked down the aisle to their song. When Aubrey heard their plans she all but dropped dead on the spot. That had been a fun day.)

(Beca had possibly influenced Chloe's choice of accessory for the day. just like Beca had done on their wedding day; she had tied her Bellas scarf around her wrist, as something old. Beca would have kept up and continued tradition, but her Bellas scarf was her daughter's favourite toy and was probably the filthiest thing she'd ever seen.)

* * *

"You're even more gorgeous than the bride", Jesse whispered, wrapping his arms around Beca. "Don't tell Chloe".

Beca laughed, throwing her head back and wrapping her arms around him. "I'd never do that".

"Want to know the best part about this wedding?"

"What?"

"That I get to dance with my two favourite girls".

She groaned. "You're such a cheese!"

"You love it baby!" he laughed. "Hey Molly! Stop dancing with Uncle Donald and come and dance with Daddy!"

Molly stepped off Donald's feet, taking off towards her father (she was running purely off sugar and would be sure to crash sooner than later) and throwing her arm around Jesse. "Hi Daddy!" she giggled, and Jesse swung her up into his arms. Molly slung one arm around her mother's neck, smacking a sloppy kiss to her cheek.

"Hey, you having fun?" she questioned.

"Yeah". She nodded, grinning.

Jesse put an arm back around Beca, swaying slowly to the music. She put a head on his shoulder and he kissed the top of her curls, matching the action with their daughter.

"I love you", she whispered to him.

"Love you!" Molly said brightly.

Jesse just laughed. "I love you too".


End file.
